//€?/?  A'J/ 
•PATRICK    HENRY' 


spondence, 

i"  '  <->  -»v*«,    v*.i.ij_t7ic;jau  u  UeU'T 

though  far  from  being  complete,  throws 
light  on  Mr.  Henry's  career,  and  is  of  gre, 
estimating  the  part  he  bore  in  the  Americl 
tion,  and  the  important  period  that  follov 

The  correspondence  and  works  of  his  tempo 
raries  published  within  this  century,  j.  ,e  a]8o 
added  greatly  to  the  material  for  a  life  of  Patrick 


\ 


PREFACE. 


IN  preparing  his  sketch  of  Patrick  Henry,  Will 
iam  Wirt,  his  first  biographer,  admits  that  the  ma 
terials  he  had  been  able  to  collect  were  "  scanty  and 
meagre,  and  utterly  disproportionate  to  the  great 
fame  of  Mr.  Henry."  The  author  of  these  volumes 
can  make  no  such  excuse  for  their  deficiencies.  He 
has  had  access  to  nearly  all  of  the  material  used 
by  Mr.  Wirt,  including  most  of  the  communications 
received  from  the  contemporaries  of  Mr.  Henry, 
which  have  been  kindly  furnished  by  Dr.  William 
Wirt ;  and  to  a  mass  of  matter  which  it  was  not 
the  good  fortune  of  Mr.  Wirt  to  examine.  A  most 
important  part  of  this  additional  matter  consists  of 
the  private  papers  of  Mr.  Henry,  left  at  Red  Hill, 
which  came  into  the  possession  of  his  youngest  son, 
John  Henry,  the  father  of  the  author.  To  these, 
fortunately,  has  been  added  a  considerable  corre 
spondence,  gathered  from  different  quarters,  which, 
though  far  from  being  complete,  throws  a  flood  of 
light  on  Mr.  Henry's  career,  and  is  of  great  value  in 
estimating  the  part  he  bore  in  the  American  Revolu 
tion,  and  the  important  period  that  followed  it. 

The  correspondence  and  works  of  his  contempo 
raries,  published  within  this  century,  have  also 
added  greatly  to  the  material  for  a  life  of  Patrick 


viil  PREFACE. 


Henry.  Among  these  should  be  specially  men 
tioned  the  letters  of  George  Washington,  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  James  Madison, 
and  the  diary  of  John  Adams  during  the  Congress 
of  1774.  In  the  State  Department  at  Washington, 
among  the  papers  of  Washington  and  of  the  Con 
tinental  Congress,  many  letters  of  Patrick  Henry 
have  been  found  which  have  never  been  printed,  and 
many  more  have  been  discovered  among  the  Execu 
tive  and  Legislative  papers  preserved  at  the  Capitol 
at  Richmond.  In  addition,  access  has  been  had  to 
the  Executive  journal  kept  during  nearly  all  of 
Mr.  Henry's  service  of  five  years  as  Governor,  and 
to  his  Executive  letter-book  after  the  Revolution, 
from  which  a  few  letters  have  been  copied.  The 
missing  volumes  were  destroyed,  or  carried  away, 
during  the  raid  of  Arnold  in  1781.  The  author 
has  also  been  fortunate  in  finding,  in  print  or  in 
MS.,  the  journals  of  nearly  every  session  of  the 
deliberative  bodies  in  which  Mr.  Henry  served,  and 
the  legislative  papers  of  the  House  of  Delegates  of 
Virginia,  from  the  commencement  of  its  existence 
as  a  State  in  1776. 

In  using  the  material  thus  put  at  his  command 
he  has  been  greatly  aided  by  the  admirable  volume 
of  Dr.  Moses  Coit  Tyler  on  Patrick  Henry,  which 
appeared  while  this  work  was  in  preparation. 

In  collecting  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  Henry 
the  author  has  been  under  obligations  to  a  number 
of  persons  who  have  sent  him  copies  of  original 
letters  in  their  possession.  Among  these  he  would 
mention  Hon.  Lyman  C.  Draper,  of  Wisconsin; 
Mrs.  Susan  Bullitt  Dixon,  of  Kentucky;  Colonel 


PREFACE.  IX 


Charles  C.  Jones,  of  Georgia;  Professor  William 
Winston  Fountaine,  of  Texas ;  Z.  T.  Rollings  worth, 
of  Boston  ;  John  B.  Thacher,  of  Albany ;  Dr.  Tho 
mas  Addis  Emmet,  D.  McN.  Stairffer,  and  William 
R.  Benjamin,  of  New  York;  F.  D.  Stone,  A.  Gratz, 
Charles  Roberts,  and  John  W.  Jordan,  of  Philadel 
phia  ;  Reverend  I.  Edwards,  of  Plymouth,  Pa.,  and 
Hon.  I.  Stamford  Raffles,  of  Liverpool,  England. 
He  would  also  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to  Miss 
Kate  Mason  Rowland,  of  Baltimore,  who,  from  her 
collection  of  material  for  a  Life  of  George  Mason, 
has  furnished  him  with  valuable  papers.  From 
the  gentlemen  in  charge  of  the  MSB.,  in  Wash 
ington  and  Richmond,  he  has  met  with  the  most 
courteous  assistance.  He  would  here  express  his 
thanks,  not  only  for  the  aid  extended  him  in  col 
lecting  material  for  his  work,  but  for  the  expres 
sions  of  interest  in  it  which  have  reached  him  from 
so  many  quarters. 

The  task  of  the  author  has  been  performed  in 
the  midst  of  exacting  professional  engagements, 
and  under  the  disadvantage  of  inexperienced  au 
thorship.  He  is  aware  that  he  has  not  done  justice 
to  his  subject,  but  he  trusts  that  the  material  he 
has  been  able  to  gather  will  enable  the  world  to 
form  a  more  just  estimate  of  the  character  and 
genius  of  Patrick  Henry,  and  of  his  great  services 
to  his  country. 

WILLIAM  WIRT  HENRY. 

RICHMOND,  VA. 


CONTENTS  VOLUME  I. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

PARENTAGE — EARLY   LIFE. — 1736-1760 1 

Parentage.  — Winstons,    Henrys,   Kobertsons.  —  Patrick 
Henry's    Birth,    Youth,    Education. — Influence    of    Eev. 
Samuel  Davies  on  Him. — Mercantile  Life. — Marriage. —     • 
Life  as  a  Farmer  and  Merchant. — Studies  Law. — Obtains 
License  to  Practise. 


CHAPTER  II. 

PROFESSIONAL   LIFE. — 1760-1764 24 

Begins  Practice  of  Law  in  Fall  of  1760.— His  Fee  Books 
Preserved. — Large  Practice  from  the  Beginning  of  His 
Professional  Life. — The  "Parson's  Cause." — Events  Lead 
ing  to  It  and  Issues  Involved  in  It. — Mr.  Henry's  Appear 
ance  in  It. — First  Exhibition  of  His  Genius  as  an  Orator. — 
Large  Increase  of  His  Practice. — His  Appearance  in  Will-  As^ 
iamsburg  in  the  Contested  Election  Case  of  Dandridge  vs. 
Littlepage. — Purchase  of  a  Farm  in  Louisa  County. — 
Judge  Lyons's  Account  of  His  Manner  at  the  Bar. 

CHAPTER  III. 

POLITICAL  TROUBLES  WITH  ENGLAND. 1764-1765 49 

Cause  of  Troubles  between  England  and  the  American 
Colonies.— Charter  Eights.— Local  Governments. — Virginia 
Early  Claims  the  Sole  Bight  to  Tax  Herself. — Commercial 
Kestrictions. — Colonial  Government  in  England. — Laws  of 
Trade. — Power  of  Parliament. — Effort  at  Union  in  1754. — 
Defeat  of  Plans.— James  Otis  and  Writs  of  Search. — War 
between  England  and  France. — Peace  of  Paris  in  1763, 


xii  CONTENTS   VOLUME   I. 


PAGE 

and  Immense  Territory  Secured  to  England  in  America. — 
Joy  in  America. — Taxation  of  America  Proposed  in  Parlia 
ment. — Parties  Created  by  It. — Protest  against  It. — The 
Stamp  Act. — Its  Eeception  in  America. — Submission  Ex 
pected  and  Prepared  for  in  the  Colonies. — What  would 
have  been  its  Effect. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ENTRANCE    ON   PUBLIC  LIFE. RESOLUTIONS   AGAINST  STAMP 

ACT.— 1765 70 

Election   of  Mr.  Henry  to  the  House  of  Burgesses. — 
'    Character  of  the  House. — Lower  Counties  and  Upper  Coun 
ties. — Characteristics  of  the  People. — Proposition  to  make 
\.          a  Public  Loan  to  Relieve  Individual  Embarrassments. — 
^^^  Eloquent  Speech  of  Mr.    Henry  in  Opposition. — Resolu 
tions  against  the  Stamp  Act  Introduced  by  Mr.   Henry, 
May  29,  1765,  and  Carried  against  the  Opposition  of  the 
Old  Leaders. — Mr.  Jefferson's  Account  of  the  Debate. — 
Accounts  of  Governor  Fauquier  and  Rev.  William  Robin 
son. — Contemporaneous  Evidence  Concerning  the  Number 
of  Resolutions  Offered  and  Passed. — Leadership  of  the  Col 
ony  accorded  Mr.  Henry  as  a  Consequence  of  His  Action. — 
Effect  of  His  Resolves  on  the  Colonies. — Resistance  to  the 
Execution  of  the  Act. — Stamp  Act  Congress. — Mr.  Henry's 
Fame. — He  Gave  the  Initial  Impulse  to  the  Revolution. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PRACTICE    IN   THE    GENERAL    COURT. 1766-1773 '.  .  ,     107 

Change  in  the  British  Ministry.— Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act 
with  Claim  of  Power  in  Parliament  over  Colonies. — Joy 
in  England  and  America.— The  New  Assembly.— Division 
of  Office  of  Speaker  and  Treasurer. — Friendship  of  Richard 
Henry  Lee  and  Mr.  Henry.— Acts  for  Additional  Taxation 
on  Importation  of  Slaves,  and  for  Relieving  Quakers  from 
Military  Service.— Fragment  of  a  Paper  by  Mr.  Henry.— 
Persecution  of  Baptist  Ministers.— Mr.  Henry  Enlists  in 
their  Defence.— His  Success  at  the  Bar.— Practises  in  the 
General  Court. — His  Ifower  over  Juries^ — Description  of 
Him^as  He  Appeared  in  "EKe  i  ran  ami  Court.,  Given  by 
Judge  st.  George  Tucker. 


CONTENTS   VOLUME   I.  xm 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

RENEWED   TROUBLES  WITH    ENGLAND. 1766-1773 128 

Determination  of  British  Government  to  Exercise  the 
Eight  of  Taxation  in  the  Colonies. — Billeting  Bill,  and 
Port  Duties  on  Wine,  Oil,  etc. — Discussion  of  American 
Eights  by  Able  Writers  through  the  Press. — Letter  of 
Massachusetts  Assembly  in  1768  to  the  Colonies,  on  their 
Eights,  drawn  by  Samuel  Adams. — The  Action  of  the  Vir 
ginia  Assembly. — Mr.  Henry  as  a  Leader. — Address  of  Par 
liament  to  King  Concerning  Trial  of  Americans  in  England. 
— Attempts  to  Separate  other  Colonies  from  Massachusetts. 
— Virginia  Determines  to  Make  Common  Cause  with  Her. 
— Non-importation  Agreement  Entered  into  by  Virginians 
and  other  Colonists. — Difficulties  of  the  Ministry,  and  De- 
termination  to  Eepeal  Duty  Act,  Except  as  to  Tea. — Popu 
larity  of  Lord  Botetourt  as  Governor. — Indian  Troubles, 
— Proposed  Lines  between  the  WThites  and  the  Indians. — 
Agreement  not  to  Use  Tea,  and  Committees  in  Counties  to 
Enforce  Agreement. — Mr.  Henry  as  a  Committee  Man.— 
Death  of  Lord  Botetourt. — Lord  Dunmore  Succeeds  Him 
as  Governor.  —  New  Assembly.  —  Protests  against  Slave 
Trade.— Mr.  Henry  on  Slavery. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


IRRITATING    MEASURES    OF   ENGLAND.  -  1772-1774 


Attempt  to  Govern  by  Eoyal  Instructions.  — Act  for  Se 
curing  Dockyards,  Ships,  and  Stores. — Affair  of  the  Gas- 
pee. — Inquiry  into  it  by  a  Commission  with  Secret  Orders. 
— Death  of  Colonel  John  Henry. — New  Assembly. — Eebuke 
to  the  Governor  for  Disregard  of  the  Criminal  Laws. — Law 
Against  Counterfeiting. — Acts  for  Internal  Improvement. 
— Committees  of  Correspondence  Advised,  and  One  Ap 
pointed  for  Virginia. — Incidents  Eelating  to  the  Eesolu- 
tions,  and  Mr.  Henry's  Part  in  Them. — Ju^lgaJIucjkgr's 
Account  of  Mr.  Henrv  in  this  Assembly. — Hearty  Eesponse 
of  the  Other  Colonies  to  the  Proposal  6T  Virginia,  as  Tend 
ing  to  Union. — What  was  the  Honor  Due  to  Virginia  in 
this  Eegard? — Effect  upon  the  Ministry. — Adjournment  of 
the  Ehode  Island  Commission. — Embarrassment  of  the 
East  India  Company.— Act  for  Their  Relief.— Duty  on  Tea 


xiv  CONTENTS  VOLUME   I. 


Shipped  to  America  Arouses  Opposition. — The  Consignees 
in  Three  Ports  Forced  to  Eesign.— At  Boston  the  Tea 
Thrown  Overboard  by  Disguised  Men. — Rage  of  the  Minis 
try.— Bill  to  Close  the  Port  of  Boston. 


CHAPTER  YIIL 

UNION    OF   AMERICAN    OPPOSITION. 1774 174 

Meeting  of  House  of  Burgesses,  May,  1774. — Trouble 
with  Indians  and  Pennsylvania.  —  Refusal  of  House  to 
Raise  Regular  Troops. — Consultation  of  Patriots  About 
Political  Affairs. — Boston  Port  Bill  Arrives. — Notice  Taken 
of  It. — Dissolution  of  the  House. — Action  of  Members 
Afterward. — Non-importation  and  Annual  Congress  Recom 
mended,  with  Delegates  to  be  Elected  by  a  Convention. 
— Mr.  Henry  the  Leader  in  the  Measures. — Splendid  Trib- 
ute  to  Him^jy  George  Mason. — Tributes  to  Virginia  by 
other  LJolonies. — .kffect  oi  tlie  Fast  Day  Recommended. — 
Tyrannous  Acts  of  Parliament  in  Reference  to  Massachu 
setts  and  the  Colonies. — General  Gage  Sent  with  Four 
Regiments  to  Enforce  Them. — Firmness  of  the  People. — 
Instructions  of  Hanover  County  to  Patrick  Henry  and  John 
Syme,  Delegates  to  the  Convention. — Commercial  Non- 
intercourse  Relied  on  for  Redress  of  Grievances. — Boston 
Fed  by  the  Patriots. — Virginia  Convention. — Delegates  to 
Congress. — Instructions  to  Them. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

POLITICAL   FORECAST. 1774 203 

New  Assembly  Ordered. — Same  Members  Returned. — 
Prorogued  till  November. — Governor  Heads  an  Expedition 
against  the  Indians  on  the  Ohio. — Battle  of  Point  Pleasant. 
— Treaty  with  the  Indians. — Resolutions  of  Officers  to  Offer 
Their  Swords  in  Defence  of  American  Liberty. — Dunmore 
Rebuked  by  Government,  which  did  not  Wish  to  Extend 
Settlements  Westward. — Mr.  Henry's  Forecast  of  the  Re 
sult  of  the  Struggle  Going  on  with  England. — Sketch  of 
Him  at  this  Period  by  Edmund  Randolph.. — Entertained 
at  Mount  Vernon  on  His  Way  to  Philadelphia. — Arrival 
with  Washington  and  Pendleton. — Cordial  Reception. — 


CONTENTS  VOLUME   I.  XV 


Character  of  the  Congress. — Some  of  Its  Principal  Charac 
ters.— The  Great  Reputation  with  which  He  Took  His 
Seat. 

CHAPTER  X. 

CONTINENTAL    CONGRESS. 1774 218 

Meeting  of  Congress. — Mr.  Henry  Opens  its  Discussions. 
— Question  of  Representation. — Work  of  the  Congress. — 
Proposal  of  Joseph  Galloway  Opposed  by  Mr.  Henry,  who 
Declares  He  Expects  Their  Measures  to  Lead  to  War. — 
Virginia  Leads  the  Congress. — Mr.  Henry  and  R.  H.  Lee 
on  Nearly  All  the  Committees. — The  Addresses  Put  Forth 
by  the  Body. — Mr.  Henry's  Want  of  Confidence  in  Their 
Effect. — Their  Impression  in  America  and  England. — Their 
Authorship. — Impressions  Made  by  Mr.  Henry  on  the  Body. 
—His  Estimate  of  John  Rutledge  and  George  Washington. 


CHAPTER  XL 

ARMING   THE   COLONY. — 1774-1775 248 

Letter  of  Patrick  Henry's  Mother. — Conduct  of  Governor 
Dunmore. — Hanover  County,  under  the  Influence  of  Pat 
rick  Henry,  Leads  in  Adopting  the  Association,  and  Ap 
pointing  a  Committee  to  Enforce  It. — Virginia  Aids  in 
Supporting  the  People  of  Boston. — Hanover  Volunteers 
Enlisted. — Effect  of  the  Addresses  of  Congress  in  England. 
— Second  Virginia  Convention. — Patrick  Henry  Moves  to 
Arm  the  Colony.— His  Eloquent  Speech  in  Support  of  His 
Motion. — Accounts  Given  by  Edmund  Randolph.  John 
Tylor,  anfl  ^  jGreorge  Tucker. — Description  by  a  Baptist 
Clergyman. — By  John  Roane. — By  Thomas  Marshall. — 
Proceedings  in  Parliament. — Ordinances  of  the  Virginia 
Convention. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

RECLAMATION    OF   THE    GUNPOWDER. SECOND    CONGRESS. 

1775 276 

Seizure  of  the  Gunpowder  at  Williamsburg  by  Governor 
Dunmore. — March  of  Mr.  Henry  at  the  Head  of  the  Hanover 
Volunteers  to  Obtain  Satisfaction. — Payment  Made  to  Him 


xvi  CONTENTS  VOLUME   I. 


PAGE 

by  Order  of  the  Governor. — Proclamation  of  the  Governor 
Against  Him. — He  is  Condemned  by  the  Council,  but 
Applauded  by  the  People  in  County  Meetings. — His  Let 
ter  to  Francis  L.  Lee  on  the  Subject. — He  is  Escorted 
Across  the  Potomac  on  His  Way  to  Congress. — Mr.  Henry 
Looking  to  Independence. — Congress  of  1775. — New  Mem 
bers. —  Difficulties  Besetting  It. —  Determines  to  Act  on 
Defensive. — Rejects  Lord  North's  Proposals. — Determines 
to  Fortify  the  Hudson  and  Adopt  the  Army  before  Boston. 
— Washington  made  Commander-in-Chief. — Other  Officers. 
— Measures  of  Congress. — Papers  Issued. — Mr.  Henry  as  a 
Committee  Man. — His  Letter  to  General  Washington. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

COLONEL    OF   FIRST   VIRGINIA   REGIMENT. 1775 306 

Virginia  Riflemeh  Sent  to  Boston. — Meeting  of  the  As 
sembly. — Difficulties  with  Governor  Dunmore. — His  Flight. 
— Demand  of  Hanover  Presbytery  for  Eeligious  Liberty. — 
Meeting  of  Third  Convention. - — George  Mason  a  Member. 
— Troops  Ordered  to  be  Raised.  —  Patrick  Henry  Made 
Colonel  of  the  First  Regiment  and  Commander  of  Virginia 
Forces. — Committee  of  Safety  Appointed. — Address  of  Con 
vention. — Enthusiastic  Reception  of  Colonel  Henry  by  His 
Troops. — The  Colonies  Declared  to  be  in  a  State  of  Re 
bellion.  — War  Upon  Virginia  by  Dunmore. — The  Com 
mittee  of  Safety  Prevent  Colonel  Henry  from  Taking  the 
Field. — Battle  of  Great  Bridge.  —  Meeting  of  Elizabeth 
Henry  and  William  Campbell. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CLOSE    OF   MILITARY  SERVICE. 1776 331 

Convention  of  December,  1775. — War  Measures. — Treat 
ment  of  Colonel  Henry  by  the  Committee  of  Safety. — 
Colonel  Woodford  Refuses  to  Report  to  Him. — Scope  of 
Colonel  Henry's  Commission. — The  Question  Left  to  the 
Committee  of  Safety. — Its  Compromise. — Virginia  Troops 
Transferred  to  Congress.  —  New  Commission  Offered 
Colonel  Henry,  Lowering  His  Rank. — He  Refuses  to  Ac 
cept  It. — Excitement  Produced  by  His  Action. — His  Course 


CONTENTS   VOLUME   I.  xvii 


PAGE 

Applauded  by  His  Officers  and  Men. — Publications  in  the 
Gazette. — Pendleton  Blamed. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

PROGRESS    OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 1776 358 

Bitterness  of  the  King.  —  Debates  in  Parliament  on 
American  Affairs. — Firmness  of  the  Friends  of  America. — 
Vindictiveness  of  the  Administration. — Effect  in  America. 
— Evidence  that  Independence  had  not  been  Previously 
Desired. — Alleged  Mecklenburg  Declaration. — Change  in 
American  Sentiment  as  to  Independence.— Difficulties  in 
the  Way. — Congress  Hampered. — The  People  of  Virginia 
Declare  for  Independence. — Charlotte  County  Instructions. 
— All  Eyes  Turned  upon  Patrick  Henry. — Letters  to  Him. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

VIRGINIA   CONVENTION. INDEPENDENCE. — 1776 387 

Character  of  Members. — James  Madison  and  Edmund 
Eandolph  Enter  Public  Life. — Patrick  Henry  Leads  the 
Convention. — Arranges  for  General  Thomas  Nelson  to  Move 
Independence. — Supports  the  Eesolution  with  Overpower 
ing  Eloquence. — History  of  the  Motion  in  the  Convention. 
— Opposition  of  Kobert  Carter  Nicholas. — Public  Demon 
strations  of  Joy  by  the  Army  and  People  of  Williarnsburg. 
— Hearty  Approval  Throughout  America. — The  Virginia 
Resolutions  in  Congress. — Declaration  of  Independence. — 
Articles  of  Confederation. 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

VIRGINIA   CONVENTION. CONSTITUTION   MAKING. 1776  .  .  .    405 

Power  of  Convention  to  Frame  a  Constitution. — A  Writ 
ten  Constitution  Determined  on. — Patrick  Henry's  Views. 
— Correspondence  with  John  Adams. — Plan  of  Adams  Ap 
proved  by  K.  H.  Lee  and  Patrick  Henry. — Draft  of  Bill  of 
Eights  by  George  Mason. — Patrick  Henry's  Part  in  Per 
fecting  It. — Analysis  of  the  Bill  of  Bights. — Sources  from 


xvm  CONTENTS  VOLUME  I. 

PAGE 

Whence  Derived. — Important  Sections  Proposed  by  Pat 
rick  Henry. — He  Inserts  the  Principle  of  Eeligious  Liberty. 
— Mason's  Plan  of  a  Constitution. — Compared  with  Adams' 
Plan,  and  the  Instrument  Adopted. — Proposals  of  Patrick 
Henry. — Plan  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA. FIRST   TERM. 1776 444 

Election  of  Patrick  Henry  as  Governor. — Letter  of  Ac 
ceptance. — Important  Ordinances  of  the  Convention. — Sick 
ness  of  Governor  Henry. — Address  of  Congratulations  to 
Him  by  the  First  and  Second  Virginia  Eegiments. — Similar 
Address  by  the  Baptist  Association. — Eeplies  of  Governor 
Henry. — Importance  of  the  Period  at  which  He  Entered 
upon  His  Office. — Evidence  of  His  Great  Executive  Abili 
ties  Afforded  by  the  Journal. — State  of  the  War  in  Virginia. 
— Dunmore  Driven  Away. — Indian  War  on  the  Western 
Border. — Expedition  Under  Colonel  William  Christian. — 
Eichard  Henderson's  Purchase  from  the  Indians.  —  His 
Claims  to  Kentucky. — First  Appearance  of  George  Eogers 
Clark  in  Kentucky. — His  Visit  to  Governor  Henry. — Aid 
Extended  Him  for  Kentucky. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA. FIRST   TERM. 1776 474 

Onerous  Duties  Devolved  on  the  Executive.— Needs  and 
Perils  of  the  State. — Correspondence  with  Washington. — 
Creation  of  a  Virginia  Navy. — Its  Great  Services  and  Hero 
ism.— Munitions  of  War  Supplied.— Troops  Furnished  the 
Continental  Army. — Arrangements  to  Obtain  Intelligence 
from  the  Army. — Effect  of  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
England. — Campaign  in  America. — Eetreat  through  New 
Jersey.  —  Eeduced  Condition  of  Washington's  Army.  — 
Battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton. — Virginia  Assembly. — 
Its  Important  Work. — Eeligious  Liberty.— Alarm  at  Ee- 
verses  at  the  North. —Enlarges  Powers  of  Governor.— Al 
leged  Scheme  for  a  Dictatorship. 


CONTENTS  VOLUME   I.  xix 


CHAPTER  XX. 

PAGE 

GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA. FIRST   TERM. 1777 510 

Re-enlistment  of  Virginia  Troops. — Difficulties  Besetting 
the  Executive. — Efforts  of  Governor  Henry  to  Fill  up  Vir 
ginia's  Quota  of  Troops. — Correspondence  with  Lee  and 
Washington. — A  Draft  Ordered. — Indian  Hostilities. — 
British  Subjects  Sent  Out  of  Virginia.— Meeting  of  As 
sembly. — Confidential  Letter  of  Washington  to  the  Gover 
nor. — Acts  of  the  Assembly. — Unanimous  Re-election  of 
Patrick  Henry  as  Governor. — Attack  upon  Richard  Henry 
Lee  in  the  Assembly. — His  Triumphant  Vindication. — Gov 
ernor  Henry  Visits  His  Home,  and  Arranges  for  His  Sec 
ond  Marriage. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

GOVERNOR    OF  VIRGINIA. — SECOND  TERM. 1777 527 

Vigorous  Measures  of  British  Ministry. — Plan  of  Cam 
paign. — Battle  of  Saratoga. — Battle  of  Brandy  wine. — Occu 
pation  of  Philadelphia.  —  Treaty  with  France. — Effect  in 
England. — Death  of  the  Earl  of  Chatham. — Serious  Effect 
in  America  of  the  Depreciation  of  the  Currency. — Procla 
mation  of  Governor  Henry. — His  Effort  to  Sustain  Public 
Credit.— To  Recruit  the  Army.— To  Protect  the  Coast.— 
Correspondence  with  Washington. — Attempt  to  Engage 
Governor  Henry  in  Plot  to  Supersede  Washington. — His 
Patriotic  Conduct. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA. SECOND   TERM. 1778 ,  .    551 

Distressing  Condition  of  the  Army. — Exertions  of  Gover 
nor  Henry  to  Relieve  It. — His  Letter  to  Congress. — Alarm 
ing  Letter  from  General  Washington. — Governor  Henry's 
Efficient  Action  Relieves  the  Army  at  Valley  Forge,  and 
Prevents  It  from  Disbanding. — Important  Action  of  Con 
gress  in  Aid  of  the  Army.— Arrival  of  the  French  Minis 
ter  and  British  Commissioners. — Attempt  to  Defeat  the 
French  Treaty. — Strong  Feeling  of  Governor  Henry. — Let 
ter  to  Richard  Henry  Lee. — Congress  Declines  the  British 


xx  CONTENTS  VOLUME   I. 


PAGE 

Proposals. — Attempt  of  Commissioners  to  Communicate 
with  Virginia  Foiled. — The  Aid  of  France  Indispensable 
to  American  Success. — Indian  Troubles. — Murder  of  Corn 
stalk. — Action  of  Governor  Henry  in  Consequence. — Re 
taliation  by  the  Indians.— Proposed  Expedition  Against 
Detroit. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA. — SECOND   TERM. 1778 580 

British  Occupation  of  the  Northwest. — Plan  of  George 
Rogers  Clark  to  Attack  their  Forts. — Approved  by  Gover 
nor  Henry. — Arrangements  Made  and  Instructions  Given 
by  Him.— Force  Enlisted  by  Clark.— His  Brilliant  Cam 
paign.  —  Difficulties  Surrounding  His  Occupation  of  the 
Country.  —  Governor  Henry's  Foresight  as  to  the  Missis 
sippi  and  the  St.  Lawrence  Rivers. — Clark's  Attack  upon 
St.  Vincent's. — Capture  of  Governor  Hamilton. — Manage 
ment  of  the  Indians. — Failure  of  Re-enforcements  from  Ken 
tucky. — Important  Services  of  Oliver  Pollock  in  Aid  of 
Clark. 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA. SECOND  TERM. 1778 606 

Expedition  of  Colonel  David  Rogers  to  the  Lower  Mis 
sissippi. — Stores  sent  by  Spain  to  New  Orleans  for  Virginia. 
— Instructions  to  Colonel  Rogers. — Experiences  of  Colonel 
Rogers  and  His  Men. — Disturbances  in  Virginia  by  Tories. 
— Josiah  Phillips  and  His  Band. — Action  of  Governor 
Henry  and  of  the  Legislature  in  Reference  to  Them. — 
British  and  Quaker  Prisoners  sent  to  Virginia. — Foreign 
Officers  Seeking  Employment.  —  The  Governor  Obtains 
Munitions  of  War  and  Loans  from  Europe. — James  Madi 
son  in  the  Council. — Second  Marriage  of  Governor  Heniy. 
— His  Estate. — His  Purchase  of  Lands  in  Henry  County. — 
Third  Election  as  Governor. 


LIFE  OF  PATRICK  HENRY 


LIFE  OF  PATRICK  HENRY 

CHAPTER   I. 

PARENTAGE— EAELY  LIFE— 1736-1760. 


Parentage. — Winstons,  Henrys,  Robertsons. — Patrick  Henry's  Birth 
Youth,  Education. — Influence  of  Rev.  Samuel  Davies  on  Him. — 
Mercantile  Life. — Marriage. — Life  as  a  Farmer  and  Merchant. 
— Studies  Law. — Obtains  License  to  Practise. 


WITHIN  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
three  brothers  of  the  ancient  and  honorable  family 
of  Winston,  of  Yorkshire,  England,1  emigrated  from 
Wales  to  the  Colony  of  Virginia.  They  were 
named  William,  Isaac,  and  James,  and  from  them 
have  descended  a  numerous  posterity,  which  has  em 
braced  many  of  the  most  distinguished  of  American 
citizens.  Isaac  Winston  married  Mary  Dabney  and 
resided  in  the  County  of  Hanover.  Among  their 
children  was  a  daughter,  Sarah,  who  married  Col 
onel  John  Syme,  and  lived  in  the  same  county. 

There  also  emigrated  to  Virginia,  some  time  prior 
to  1730,  John  Henry,  the  son  of  Alexander  Henry 
and  Jean  Robertson,  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland.  John 
Henry  was  a  friend  of  Robert  Dinwiddie,  who  be 
came  Governor  of  Virginia  in  1752,  and  it  is  said 

1  The  Duke  of  Marlborough  was  descended  from  the  Gloucestershire 
branch  of  the  family. 


PATRICK   HENRY. 


brought  a  letter  of  introduction  from  him  to  Colonel 
John  Syme.1  It  is  very  probable  that  the  families 
were  at  this  time  connected  in  Scotland,  and  that 
this  fact  caused  John  Henry  to  make  his  way  to 
Hanover  on  his  arrival  in  Virginia.  However  this 
may  be,  it  is  certain  that  he  soon  became  domesti 
cated  in  the  family  of  Colonel  Syme. 

The  author  is  indebted  to  Sir  Mitchell  Henry,  of 
Kylemore  Castle,  Galway,  Ireland,  for  years  a  dis 
tinguished  member  of  Parliament,  for  some  account 
of  the  Henry  family  of  Scotland.  He  writes  :  "Al 
though  the  recent  Henrys  are  of  Scotch  extraction, 
the  family  was  originally  Norman,  and  will  be 
found  in  the  Livre  des  Conquerants  of  William  the 
Conqueror ;  and  in  Brittany  there  are  many  Henrys, 
(not  Henri)  still  remaining.  Some  of  the  Henrys 
after  the  Conquest  settled  in  England,  and  some 
went  north  to  Scotland,  and  are  to  be  found  in  1153 
in  Hampshire,  Bedfordshire,  and  Surrey,  among  the 
latter  in  1196,  Alexander  films  Henrici.  I  have  lit 
tle  doubt  that  if  anyone  would  take  the  trouble  to 
do  it,  a  very  complete  history  of  the  family  name 
could  be  traced,  as  their  names  occur  in  the  roll  of 
Battle  Abbey,  and  in  Domesday  Book,  and  in  the 
Great  Rolls  of  the  Pipe,  1153."  Of  his  own  family 
he  writes :  "  The  branch  from  which  I  descended 
came  from  Scotland  to  Ireland  in  the  year  1616,  at 
the  plantation  of  Ulster,  and  settled  as  substantial 
yeomen  at  Loughbrickland,  County  Down,  which 
they  still  possess.  The  names  of  Alexander,  Pat 
rick,  Archibald,  and  Hugh  were  common  with  them. 
There  are  other  Henrys  in  Ireland,  who  have  a  peli 
can  as  coat  of  arms,  of  whom  Hugh  Henry,  of  Straf- 

1  Wirfc's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  20,  edition  of  1836. 


PARENTAGE— EARLY   LIFE. 


fan,  was  the  representative,  and  married  into  the 
family  of  the  Duke  of  Leicester.  The  late  Sir 
Thomas  Henry,  the  chief  magistrate  of  London, 
lately  dead,  was  a  Henry  professing  the  Roman  Cath 
olic  religion,  and  the  son  of  William  Henry,  of  Dub 
lin,  who  was  employed  in  a  romantic  attempt  to  res 
cue  Marie  Antoinette  from  prison  and  the  scaffold."1 

John  Henry,  the  emigrant,  was  second  cousin  to 
David  Henry,  who,  leaving  Scotland  for  London  at 
the  age  of  fourteen,  became  a  journeyman  printer  in 
the  same  office  with  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  after 
ward  married  the  sister  of  Edward  Cave,  the  foun 
der  of  the  "  Gentleman's  Magazine."  He  was  for 
more  than  fifty  years  an  associate  editor  of  that  val 
uable  publication,  and  was  an  accomplished  scholar 
and  writer.  David  Henry  described  his  Henry  kin 
in  Scotland  as  "  more  respected  for  their  good  sense 
and  superior  education  than  for  their  riches ;  as  at 
every  neighboring  meeting  of  gentlemen  they  were 
among  the  foremost."  2 

Jean  Robertson,  the  mother  of  John  Henry,  was  a 
sister  of  Rev.  William  Robertson,  the  father  of  Dr. 
William  Robertson,  the  distinguished  scholar,  his 
torian,  and  divine.3  One  of  the  sisters  of  Dr.  Rob 
ertson  married  a  Syme,  doubtless  a  relation  of  Col 
onel  John  Syme,  of  Virginia.  She  was  the  mother 
of  Eleanor  Syme,  the  mother  of  Henry  Brougham, 
who  considered  himself  indebted  to  her  for  his  tal 
ents.4  The  Robertsons  were  descendants  of  the 
Duncans  of  Scotland,  and  William  Robertson  was 
said  to  have  had  the  blood  of  John  Knox  in  his 

1  MS.  letter  dated  September  21,  1876.         2  "  Gentleman's  Magazine." 

3  She  is  sometimes  represented  as  a  sister  of  Dr.  Robertson,  but  the 
dates  of  birth  of  his  sisters  disprove  this. 

4  Life  and  Times  of  Lord  Brougham,  written  by  himself,  i.,  17. 


PATRICK   HENRY. 


veins.1  Donald,  a  younger  brother  of  Jean  Robert 
son,  emigrated  to  Virginia,  and  conducted  a  classi 
cal  school  in  King  and  Queen  County,  at  which 
James  Madison  was  prepared  for  Princeton  College. 
Madison  referred  to  him  in  after-life  as  his  "  learned 
teacher."  2  Donald  Robertson  was  related  to  the 
late  learned  Chief-Justice  of  Kentucky,  George 
Robertson. 

John  Henry  was  a  man  of  classical  education. 
The  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  himself  a  finished  classical 
scholar,  describes  him  as  a  man  more  familiar  with 
his  Horace  than  with  his  Bible.3  He  was  by  no 
means  deficient,  however,  in  his  knowledge  of  the 
latter,  as  is  abundantly  shown  by  a  letter  to  his 
brother,  the  Rev.  Patrick  Henry,  which  has  been 
preserved.  In  it  he  refers  to  a  discussion  going  on 
between  himself,  Colonel  Richard  Bland,  and  Com 
missary  Blair  upon  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punish 
ment,  which  he  defends  by  a  critical  examination  of 
the  Greek  text  of  the  New  Testament.4  He  is  de 
scribed  by  his  acquaintances  as  a  man  of  plain  but 
solid  understanding,  a  zealous  member  of  the  Estab 
lished  Church,  and  warmly  attached  to  the  reigning 
family.  He  led  a  life  of  irreproachable  integrity 
and  exemplary  piety,  and  won  the  full  confidence  of 
the  community  in  which  he  lived.  He  filled  the 
offices  of  county  surveyor  and  presiding  magistrate 
of  the  county  of  Hanover,  and  was  colonel  of  its 
regiment  of  militia.  As  their  commanding  officer  he 
convened  the  militia  at  the  Court  House,  and  cele 
brated  the  coronation  of  George  the  Third  by  mak- 


1  Life  and  Times  of  Lord  Brougham,  written  by  himself,  i.,  32. 

2  Rives's  Madison,  i.,  10.      3  Grigsby's  Virginia  Convention  of  1776,  145. 
4  "  Evangelical  Magazine,"  iii.,  173. 


PARENTAGE— EARLY  LIFE. 


ing  them  perform  a  number  of  evolutions,  and  burn 
a  quantity  of  gunpowder,  little  dreaming  that  a  son 
of  his  would  be  instrumental  in  separating  America 
from  his  Majesty's  dominions. 

Colonel  John  Syme  died  in  the  year  1731,  as 
near  as  can  be  ascertained,  leaving  one  child,  a  son, 
and  a  most  attractive  widow,  who  has  been  so  well 
described  by  Colonel  William  Byrd,  of  Westover, 
that  the  passage  may  well  be  transcribed.  In  his 
"  Progress  to  the  Mines,"  under  date  of  October  7, 
1732,  he  writes: 

"In  the  evening  Tinsley  conducted  me  to  Mrs. 
Syme's  house,  where  I  intended  to  take  up  my 
quarters.  This  lady,  at  first  suspecting  I  was  some 
lover,  put  on  a  gravity  which  becomes  a  weed,  but 
so  soon  as  she  learned  who  I  was,  brightened  up 
into  an  unusual  cheerfulness  and  serenity.  She  was 
a  portly,  handsome  dame  of  the  family  of  Esau,  and 
seemed  not  to  pine  too  much  for  the  death  of  her 
husband,  who  was  of  the  family  of  the  Saracens. 
He  left  a  son  by  her,  who  has  all  the  strong  feat 
ures  of  his  sire,  not  softened  in  the  least  by  any  of 
hers. 

"  This  widow  is  a  person  of  a  lively  and  cheerful 
conversation,  with  much  less  reserve  than  most  of 
her  countrywomen.  It  becomes  her  well,  and  sets 
off  her  other  agreeable  qualities  to  advantage.  We 
tossed  off  a  bottle  of  honest  port,  which  we  relished 
with  a  broiled  chicken."  On  the  next  day,  he  adds, 
"  I  moistened  my  clay  with  a  quart  of  milk  and  tea, 
which  I  found  altogether  as  great  a  help  to  dis 
course  as  the  juice  of  the  grape.  The  courteous 
widow  invited  me  to  rest  myself  there  that  good 
day,  and  go  to  church  with  her,  but  I  excused  my 
self  by  telling  her  she  would  certainly  spoil  my 
devotions.  Then  she  civilly  entreated  me  to  make 


PATRICK   HENRY. 


her  house  my  home  whenever  I  visited  my  planta 
tions,  which  made  me  bow  low  and  thank  her  very 
kindly." 

As  Colonel  Byrd  was  not  only  an  accomplished 
scholar,  but  was  one  of  the  wittiest  men  in  the  col 
ony,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  gravity 
of  the  young  widow  was  disturbed  by  his  polished 
humor.  The  cheerfulness  of  which  he  speaks  never 
left  her,  and  if  not  at  that  time,  she  soon  became, 
a  devoted  Christian.  She  is  described  as  a  woman 
of  remarkable  intellectual  gifts,  with  an  unusual 
command  of  language,  and  as  happily  uniting  firm 
ness  with  gentleness  in  the  management  of  her 
family,  before  which  she  set  an  example  of  fervent 
piety.  Her  talents,  indeed,  seemed  a  family  posses 
sion;  certainly  her  brother,  William.  Winston,  was 
a  person  of  great  powers  of  eloquence,  as  the  fol 
lowing  account  of  him  in  a  letter  of  Nathaniel  Pope 
to  Mr.  Wirt  attests. 

"  I  have  often  heard  my  father,  who  was  inti 
mately  acquainted  with  this  William  Winston,  say, 
that  he  was  the  greatest  orator  whom  he  ever  heard, 
Patrick  Henry  excepted ;  that  during  the  last  French 
and  Indian  War,  and  soon  after  Braddock's  defeat, 
when  the  militia  were  marched  to  the  frontier  of 
Virginia  against  the  enemy,  this  William  Winston 
was  the  lieutenant  of  a  company ;  that  the  men, 
who  were  indifferently  clothed,  without  tents,  and 
exposed  to  the  rigor  and  inclemency  of  the  weather, 
discovered  great  aversion  to  the  service,  and  were 
anxious,  and  even  clamorous,  to  return  to  their 
families,  when  this  William  Winston,  mounting  a 
stump,  addressed  them  with  such  keenness  of  invec 
tive,  and  declaimed  with  such  force  of  eloquence  on 


PARENTAGE— EARLY  LIFE. 


liberty  and  patriotism,  that  when  he  concluded  the 
general  cry  was,  i  Let  us  march  on ;  lead  us  against 
the  enemy  ! '  and  they  were  now  willing,  nay,  anx 
ious,  to  encounter  all  those  difficulties  and  dangers, 
which,  but  a  few  moments  before,  had  almost  pro 
duced  mutiny."  l 

Not  many  months  after  this  visit  of  Colonel 
Byrd,  Mrs.  Syme  married  John  Henry.  Their  resi 
dence  was  Studley,  in  Hanover  County,  the  home 
of  Mrs.  Henry  before  marriage,  situated  three  miles 
from  Hanover  town  and  sixteen  from  Richmond. 
The  dwelling  has  long  since  disappeared,  and  its  site 
is  marked  by  antique  hedges  of  box,  approached 
through  an  avenue  of  aged  trees.  The  spot  is  sur 
rounded  by  a  forest,  which  is  devoid  of  picturesque 
scenery,  but  which  makes  it  literally  true  that  the 
subject  of  this  memoir  was  "forest-born."  2  A  few 
miles  distant  are  the  "  Slashes  of  Hanover,"  famous 
as  the  birthplace  of  Henry  Clay. 

There  were  nine  children  born  to  John  Henry  and 
Sarah  Winston,  two  sons  and  seven  daughters,  and 
from  them  has  sprung  a  numerous  progeny,  includ 
ing  many  persons  of  distinction.3  The  daughters 
are  described  as  being  nearly  all  of  them  very 
gifted.  The  first  son  was  named  William,  after 
Mrs.  Henry's  brother ;  the  second,  born  May  29, 
1736,  was  named  Patrick,  after  the  Rev.  Patrick 
Henry,  the  brother  of  John  Henry.  This  gentleman 
had  been  induced  to  come  to  Virginia  by  his 
brother,  through  whose  influence  he  had  been  made 
rector  of  St.  George's  parish,  in  Spottsylvania 
County,  in  April,  1733.  On  June  11,  1736,  he  be- 

1  Wirt's  Henry,  21.        2  Lord  Byron  so  calls  him  in  The  Age  of  Bronze. 
3  See  Appendix  I.  '*} 


PATRICK  HENRY. 


came  rector  of  St.  Paul's  parish,  in  Hanover  County. 
On  the  same  day  the  Vestry  Book  records  that  John 
Henry  was  chosen  one  of  the  vestry,  and  sold  to 
the  parish  a  tract  of  land  containing  three  hundred 
and  forty-eight  acres,  called  Mount  Pleasant,  as  a 
glebe.1  The  two  brothers,  who  were  tenderly  at 
tached  to  each  other,  afterward  lived  not  far  apart. 

While  Patrick  Henry  was  still  an  infant  his 
parents  removed  to  another  home  in  the  same  coun 
ty,  on  the  South  Anna  River,  near  Rocky  Mills,  and 
about  twenty-two  miles  from  Richmond.  This  new 
home  was  then  called  Mount  Brilliant,  but  after 
ward  became  known  as  The  Retreat. 

Here  Patrick  Henry  spent  his  youth,  and  received 
Jiis  education.  As  that  youth  has  been  represented 
as  having  been  thrown  away  in  idleness,  it  is  fortu 
nate  that  the  account  of  it  given  by  his  brother-in- 
law,  Colonel  Samuel  Meredith,  has  been  preserved. 
Colonel  Meredith  was  four  years  his  senior,  and 
lived  within  four  miles  of  him.  He  says  : 

"  He  was  sent  to  a  common  English  school  until 
about  the  age  of  ten  years,  where  he  learned  to 
read  and  write,  and  acquired  some  little  knowledge 
of  arithmetic.  He  never  went  to  any  other  school, 
public  or  private,  but  remained  with  his  father,  who 
was  his  only  tutor.  With  him  he  acquired  a  knowl 
edge  of  the  Latin  language,  and  a  smattering  of  the 
Greek.  He  became  well  acqainted  with  mathe 
matics,  of  which  he  was  very  fond.  At  the  age 
of  fifteen  he  was  well  versed  in  both  ancient  and 
modern  history.  Until  he  attained  to  eminence  at 
the  bar,  there  was  nothing  very  remarkable  in 

1  Extract  from  Vestry  Book,  published  in  "  The  Southern  Churchman," 
April  22,  1886. 


PARENTAGE— EARLY   LIFE. 


the  person,  mind,  or  manners  of  Mr.  Henry.  His 
disposition  was  very  mild,  benevolent,  and  humane. 
He  was  quiet,  and  inclined  to  be  thoughtful,  but 
fond  of  society.  From  his  earliest  days  he  was  an 
attentive  observer  of  everything  of  consequence 
that  passed  before  him.  Nothing  escaped  his  at 
tention.  He  was  fond  of  reading,  but  indulged 
much  in  innocent  amusements.  He  was  remarkably 
fond  of  his  gun.  He  interested  himself  much  in 
the  happiness  of  others,  particularly  of  his  sisters, 
whose  advocate  he  always  was  when  any  favor  or 
indulgence  was  to  be  procured  from  their  mother. 
In  his  youth  he  seemed  regardless  of  the  appearance 
of  his  outside  dress,  but  was  unusually  attentive  in 
having  clean  linen  and  stockings.  He  was  not  re 
markable  for  an  uncouth  or  a  genteel  appearance  in 
his  youth.  In  fact,  there  was  nothing  in  early  life 
for  which  he  was  remarkable,  except  his  invariable, 
habit  of  close  and  attentive  observation.  He  had  a 
nice  ear  for  music,  and  when  he  was  about  the  age 
of  twelve  he  had  his  collar-bone  broken,  and  during 
the  confinement  learned  to  play  very  well  on  the  flute. 
He  was  also  an  excellent  performer  on  the  violin. 
He  was  in  early  youth,  as  in  advanced  life,  plain  and 
easy  in  his  manners,  exempt  from  that  .bashfulness 
often  so  distressing  to  young  persons  who  have  not 
seen  much  company.  His  father  often  said  that  he 
was  one  of  the  most  dutiful  sons  that  ever  lived, 
and  his  sister,  Mrs.  Meredith,  states,  that  he  was 
never  known  in  his  life  to  utter  the  name  of  God, 
except  on  a  necessary  or  proper  occasion.7' l 

Another  of  Mr.  Henry's  early  companions  writes  : 

"  He  was  delighted  with  the '  Life  and  Opinions  of 
Tristram  Shandy,'  which  I  have  known  him  to  read 

1  MS.  Narrative  of  Colonel  Samuel  Meredith,  taken  down  by  Judge 
William  H.  Cabell  and  sent  to  Mr.  Wirt. 


10  PATRICK  HENRY.- 

> 

several  hours  together,  lying  with  his  back  upon  a 
bed.  He  had  a  most  retentive  memory,  making 
whatever  he  read  his  own.  I  never  heard  him  quote 
verbatim  any  passages  from  history  or  poetry,  but 
he  would  give  you  the  fact  or  sentiment  in  his  own 
expressive  language.  He  had  a  most  extraordinary 
talent  for  collecting  the  sentiments  of  his  company 
upon  any  subject,  without  discovering  his  own,  and 
he  would  effect  this  by  interrogations  which  to  the 
company  often  appeared  to  be  irrelevant  to  the  sub 
ject."  l 

It  was  also  the  testimony  of  several  of  his  early 
companions,  "  that  he  was  remarkably  fond  of  fun, 
but  that  his  fun  was  innocent,  and  he  never  discov 
ered  in  any  one  action  of  his  childhood  or  youth  the 
least  spice  of  ill-nature  or  malevolence ;  also  that  he 
was  remarkably  fond  of  hunting,  fishing,  and  play 
ing  on  the  violin."  2 

From  the  statement  of  Patrick  Henry  in  after 
life,  we  learn  that  at  fifteen  he  had  read  Virgil  and 
Livy  in  the  original ; 3  and  from  some  sentences  in 
French  written  by  him  in  a  law  book,  in  1760,  it 
appears  that  he  must  have  been  taught  something 
of  that  language.  He  also  told  Judge  Hugh  Nel 
son,  that  a  little  later  in  life  he  made  it  a  rule  to 
read  a  translation  of  Livy  through  every  year.4 

The  character  given  of  young  Patrick  Henry  by 
his  companions  indicates  the  careful  religious  train 
ing  he  received  from  his  pious  parents.  In  addition 
to  this  it  was  his.good  fortune  in  his  youth  to  come 
under  the  influence  of  a  man  of  the  highest  order  of 

1  MS.  Letter  of  Nathaniel  Pope  to  Mr.  Wirt,  September  27,  1805,  giving 
statement  of  Captain  George  Dabney. 

2  Id.  3  Diary  of  John  Adams,  Life  and  Works,  ii. ,  396. 
4  Wirt's  Henry,  31. 


PARENTAGE— EARLY  LIFE.  11 

genius  and  of  the  deepest  piety.  This  was  the  cele 
brated  pulpit  orator,  Samuel  Davies.  The  circum 
stances  leading  to  the  residence  in  the  County  of 
Hanover  of  this  gifted  man,  who  exercised  so  marked 
an  influence  over  the  future  of  Patrick  Henry,  are 
full  of  interest. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  many 
of  the  ministers  of  the  Established  Church  in  Virginia 
had  become  very  unfaithful  to  the  religion  of  the 
Bible,  both  in  their  preaching  and  their  manner  of 
life.1  Far  removed  from  the  eye  of  their  diocesan, 
the  Bishop  of  London,  and  often  mere  clerical  ad 
venturers,  who  had  sought  positions  in  the  colony 
from  mercenary  motives,  they  not  only  did  not 
preach  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  with  faithfulness 
themselves,  but  they  were  unwilling  that  their  par 
ishioners  should  hear  it  from  other  lips.  They  were 
therefore  careful  that  the  laws  against  absenting 
one's  self  from  Episcopal  services,  and  against  at 
tending  the  preaching  of  Dissenters,  should  be  rigor 
ously  enforced  in  their  parishes. 

In  the  county  of  Hanover,  about  the  year  1740, 
four  gentlemen,  who  had  been  very  regular  in  their, 
attendance  at  church,  becoming  convinced  that  the 
parish  minister  was  not  preaching  the  gospel,2  ab 
sented  themselves  from  church  the  same  day,  but 
without  preconcert.  Summoned  before  the  magis 
trate  to  answer  for  their  conduct,  each  learned  for 
the  first  time  that  three  of  his  neighbors  were  un 
der  the  like  condemnation  with  himself.  They  bore 


%  '  See  this  brought  out  in  Bishop  Meade's  Old  Churches  and  Families 
of  Virginia. 

•  This  minister  was  no  doubt  the  rector  of  St.  Martin's  parish,  and 
possibly  Rev.  Robert  Barrett.     See  Meade's  Old  Churches,  i.,  420. 


12  PATRICK  HENRY. 

their  fines  patiently,  and  afterward  met  regularly  in 
their  private  houses  on  the  Sabbath,  and  read  what 
few  religious  books  they  could  get,  delighting  mostly 
in  some  volumes  of  Luther.  Soon  the  attendance 
became  too  large  for  a  private  house,  and  they  built 
houses  of  worship,  calling  them  "  Morris's  Reading 
Houses,"  1  after  Samuel  Morris,  on  whose  land  the 
first  was  built.  From  this  beginning  was  developed 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Hanover,  which  soon  ex 
tended  over  all  the  colony  between  the  mountains 
and  the  sea-shore. 

Isaac  Winston,  the  father  of  Mrs.  John  Henry, 
was  probably  one  of  the  four  gentlemen  who  ab 
sented  themselves  from  the  parish  church.  If  not, 
he  soon  joined  them,  for  we  find  him  indicted  in  the 
General  Court,  held  by  the  Governor  and  Council, 
October  19,  1745,  for  permitting  the  Rev.  John 
Roane,  a  dissenting  minister,  to  preach  at  his  house.2 

In  1743  Rev.  William  Robinson,  an  eminent 
Presbyterian  minister,  was  sent  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Newcastle,  as  an  evangelist  to  visit  the  churches 
in  Virginia.  He  preached  to  the  Dissenters  in  Han 
over,  and  on  leaving  they  expressed  their  gratitude 
by  presenting  him  with  a  considerable  sum  of  money. 
This  he  declined,  but  when  he  found  that  they  had 
put  it  into  his  saddle-bags,  he  consented  to  keep  it, 
if  he  were  allowed  to  use  it  in  educating  a  young 
man  to  be  sent  to  them  as  a  minister.  The  young 
man  he  selected  was  Samuel  Davies.3  He  was 
educated  at  the  famous  classical  school  of  Samuel 
Blair,  at  Fogg's  Manor,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  came  to 
Hanover  in  1747,4  after  first  obtaining  from  the  Gov- 

1  Foote's  Sketches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Virginia,  122-3. 

2  Id.,  141-2  and  161.  3Id.,  129.  4  Id.,  160. 


PARENTAGE— EARLY   LIFE.  13 

ernor  and  Council  the  benefit  of  the  toleration  act, 
by  which  he  was  permitted  to  exercise  his  ministry 
unmolested.  He  continued  to  preach  in  Hanover 
and  the  surrounding  counties,  until  he  was  called 
to  the  presidency  of  Princeton  in  1759.  This  min 
istry  of  twelve  years  was  only  interrupted  by  a 
mission  to  England  in  behalf  of  an  endowment  for 
the  college,  which  was  entered  upon  in  the  fall  of 
1753.  arid  lasted  fifteen  months.  So  successful  was 
he  in  his  labors  in  the  ministry,  that  he  is  justly  re 
garded  as  "  the  father  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Virginia ; "  and  his  contemporaries  declared  that  he 
was  "the  prince  of  American  preachers,"  and  sec 
ond  only  as  a  pulpit  orator  to  the  great  Whitefield. 
In  person  he  was  tall,  well  proportioned,  erect,  and 
comely ;  his  carriage  easy,  graceful,  and  dignified ; 
his  dress  neat  and  tasteful,  and  his  manners  pol 
ished.  A  distinguished  Virginian  well  expressed 
the  impression  his  appearance  made,  who,  seeing 
him  walk  through  a  courtyard,  remarked  that  "  he 
looked  like  the  embassador  of  some  great  king." 
He  was  endowed  with  a  voice  strong,  clear,  and 
musical,  a  memory  from  which  nothing  seemed  to 
escape,  a  powerful  yet  delicate  imagination,  a  per 
fect  command  of  strong,  ornate,  and  perspicuous  dic 
tion,  and  an  animation  in  delivery  which  lighted 
up  his  features,  pervaded  every  look,  gesture,  and 
movement,  and  seemed  to  blend  the  simplicity  of 
nature  with  the  highest  culture  of  art.  Indeed,  his 
manner  of  delivery  as  to  pronunciation,  gesture,  and 
modulation  of  voice  was  a  perfect  model  of  the  most 
moving  and  striking  oratory,  while  the  sublimity 
and  elegance,  simplicity  and  perspicuity  of  his  dis 
courses,  rendered  his  sermons  not  only  models  for 


14  PATRICK   HENRY. 

all  who  heard  them,  but  for  posterity  as  well,  for 
whom,  happily,  many  of  them  have  been  preserved. 
Whenever  this  august  and  venerable  person  ascended 
the  sacred  desk,  he  seized  the  attention  and  com 
manded  all  the  various  passions  of  his  audience, 
and  imparted  to  the  discourse  a  solemnity  which 
could  never  be  forgotten.  A  true  patriot,  he  em 
ployed  his  great  gifts  in  cheering  up  his  countrymen 
after  the  depressing  defeat  of  Brad  clock  in  1755, 
and  the  first  volunteer  company  raised  in  Virginia, 
after  that  crushing  disaster,  was  from  his  congrega 
tions,  the  result  of  a  patriotic  discourse  delivered 
July  20, 1755.  Before  this  company,  commanded  by 
Captain  Overton,  he  preached  August  17,  1755,  and 
in  appealing  to  the  martial  spirit  of  his  hearers  he 
made  prophetic  mention  of  the  young  officer  who 
had  saved  the  command  of  Braddock  from  annihila 
tion.  He  said  :  "  As  a  remarkable  instance  of  this,  I 
may  point  out  to  the  public,  that  heroic  youth,  Col 
onel  Washington,  whom  I  cannot  but  hope  Provi 
dence  has  hitherto  preserved  in  so  signal  a  manner 
for  some  important  service  to  his  country." 

An  anecdote  is  related  of  him  which  shows  his 
fearlessness  as  a  preacher.  It  is  said  that  while  he 
was  in  London  King  George  II.,  attracted  by  his 
reputation,  attended  one  of  his  services.  He  was  so 
pleased  that  he  expressed  himself  to  those  sitting 
near  him,  to  the  great  interruption  of  the  service. 
Finally  Mr.  Davies  fixed  his  eye  upon  him,  and  said, 
with  great  solemnity :  "  When  the  lion  roareth,  the 
beasts  of  the  forests  tremble ;  when  the  Lord  speak- 
eth,  let  the  kings  of  the  earth  keep  silence."  The 

1  For  some  account  of  Mr.  Davies  and  his  work,  see  Foote's  Sketches 
of  Virginia. 


PARENTAGE— EARLY  LIFE.  15 

King  shrank  back  in  his  seat  and  remained  quiet 
during  the  remainder  of  the  discourse,  and  next  day 
sent  for  Mr.  Davies  and  gave  him  fifty  guineas  for 
the  college,  observing  at  the  same  time  to  his  cour 
tiers,  "  He  is  an  honest  man  !  an  honest  man  !  "  1 

It  was  under  the  influence  of  such  a  man  that 
Patrick  Henry  came  at  the  impressible  age  of 
twelve.  One  of  the  places  at  which  Mr.  Davies 
preached  was  known  as  "  the  Fork  Church,"  and 
here  Mrs.  John  Henry,  who  became  a  member  of 
his  church,  attended  regularly.  She  was  in  the 
habit  of  riding  in  a  double  gig,  taking  with  her 
young  Patrick,  who,  from  the  first,  showed  a  high 
appreciation  of  the  preacher.  Returning  from 
church  she  would  make  him  give  the  text  and  a  re 
capitulation  of  the  discourse.  She  could  have  done 
her  son  no  greater  service.  His  sympathetic  gen 
ius  was  not  only  aroused  by  the  eloquence  of  the 
preacher,  who,  he  ever  declared,  was  "  the  greatest 
orator  he  ever  heard,"  but  he  learned  from  him 
that  robust  system  of  theology  which  is  known  as 
Calvinism,  and  which  has  furnished  to  the  world 
so  many  of  her  greatest  characters — a  system  of 
which  Froude  writes:  "It  has  been  able  to  inspire 
and  sustain  the  bravest  efforts  ever  made  by  man 
to  break  the  yoke  of  unjust  authority,  .  .  .  has 
borne  ever  an  inflexible  front  to  illusion  and  men 
dacity,  and  has  preferred  rather  to  be  ground  to 
powder,  like  flint,  than  to  bend  before  violence,  or 
melt  under  enervating  temptation."  2 

Although  Mr.  Whitefield  visited  Hanover  during 
one  of  his  American  tours,  it  is  probable  that  Pat- 

1  Howe's  Virginia  Historical  Collections,  294. 

"  Address  to  the  Students  at  St.  Andrews,  March  17,  1871. 


16  PATRICK   HENRY. 

rick  Henry  was  too  young  to  have  appreciated  him, 
and  he  had  reached  manhood  before  James  Wad- 
dell,  the  eloquent  blind  preacher,  entered  the  minis 
try.1  His  early  example  of  eloquence,  therefore, 
was  Mr.  Davies,  and  the  effect  of  his  teaching  upon 
his  after  life  may  be  plainly  traced.  Although  he 
never  withdrew  from  the  Episcopal  Church,  in 
which  he  was  baptized,  he  became  the  persistent 
advocate  of  religious  liberty.  Colonel  Meredith 
says  of  him  :  "  He  was  through  life  a  warm  friend 
of  the  Christian  religion.  He  was  an  Episcopalian, 
but  very  friendly  to  all  sects,  particularly  the  Pres 
byterian.  His  father  was  an  Episcopalian,  his 
mother  a  Presbyterian."  2 

When  about  the  age  of  fifteen  Patrick  Henry 
was  placed  by  his  father  with  a  merchant  of  the 
county,  in  order  that  he  might  be  trained  for  mer 
cantile  life.  After  a  year's  experience  he  and  his 
brother  William  were  set  up  in  business  in  a  coun 
try  store,  with  a  stock  of  goods  purchased  for  them 
by  their  father.  Patrick,  though  the  younger,  was 
equally  interested,  and  was  indeed  the  principal 
manager.  The  brothers  were  too  indulgent  in  grant 
ing  credit,  and  one  year  was  enough  to  embarrass 
the  business  and  cause  its  discontinuance.  Upon 
Patrick  devolved  the  care  of  winding  up  this  short 
lived  firm,  and  while  he  was  thus  engaged,  in  the 
fall  of  1754,  before  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age, 
he  was  married  to  Sarah,  a  daughter  of  John  Shel- 
ton,  who  lived  in  the  part  of  the  county  known  as 
the  Fork.  His  wife  was  an  estimable  woman,  of 
most  excellent  parentage,  and  brought  him  six  ne- 

1  This  was  in  1761.     Foote's  Sketches  of  Virginia,  351. 

2  MS.  Narrative  sent  to  Mr.  Wirt. 


PARENTAGE— EARLY   LIFE.  17 

groes  and  a  tract  of  poor  land,  containing  three 
hundred  acres,  called  Pine  Slash,  and  adjoining  her 
father's  place.1  His  parents  gave  him  some  little 
property  besides,  and  with  this  start  in  the  world 
•he  attempted  to  support  himself  by  agriculture.  It 
is  probable  that  most  of  the  negroes  given  him 
were  very  young,  as  we. find  him  forced  to  labor  on 
his  farm  with  his  own  hands.2  In  the  year  1757  he 
lost,  by  an  accidental  fire,  his  dwelling-house  and 
the  greater  part  of  his  furniture.  He  thereupon 
sold  some  of  his  negroes  to  repair  his  loss  and  to  buy 
a  small  stock  of  goods,  with  which,  early  in  1758,  he 
opened  a  country  store,3  hoping  with  his  farm  and 
store  to  secure  a  support  for  his  growing  family. 
His  mercantile  business  was  small,  even  for  a  coun 
try  store,  and  was  conducted  by  a  clerk.4  Unfor 
tunately  he  did  not  profit  by  his  previous  experience 
in  the  matter  of  credit,  as  many  of  his  accounts  ap 
pear  to  have  been  uncollected.  The  business  con 
tinued  for  about  two  years,  and  his  cash  sales  only 
footed  up  £39  6s.  3d.  This  was  doubtless  due  to 
the  failure  in  the  tobacco  crop  in  1759,  upon  which 
the  planters  were  dependent  for  money.  At  the  end 
of  two  years  he  found  his  capital  gone  and  himself 
in  debt,  but  not  insolvent,  as  has  been  represented. 
His  business  had  been  too  limited  for  that  result, 
and  we  have  his  statement,  late  in  life,  that  he  was 
never  sued  for  a  debt  of  his  own. 

It  was  during  this  critical  period  of  his  life  that 
we  are  permitted  to  see   him   as   he   appeared  to 

1  Entry  of  Patrick  Henry  in  his  account  book. 

2  MS.  Letter  of  Judge  Edmund  Winston  to  Mr.  Wirt. 

8  MS.  Statement  of  Colonel  Meredith  sent  to  Mr.  Wirt. 

4  This  appears  by  the  handwriting  in  the  ledger  in  possession  of  the 

author, 

2 


18  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  who  has  left  an  account  of  their 
first  meeting.  One  of  Mr.  Henry's  nearest  neigh 
bors  and  warmest  friends  was  Captain  Nathaniel 
West  Dandridge,  formerly  of  the  British  navy,  who 
was  a  great-grandson  of  Captain  John  West,  brother 
of  Thomas  West,  Lord  Delaware,  and  who  had  mar 
ried  Dorothea,  daughter  of  Governor  Alexander 
Spotswood.  He  was  a  man  of  large  means,  and,  as 
was  the  custom  of  the  colony,  very  hospitable.  It 
was  at  his  house  that  Patrick  Henry  and  Thomas 
Jefferson  first  met.  The  following  is  Mr.  Jeffer 
son's  account  of  the  meeting  : 

"  My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Henry  commenced 
in  the  winter  of  1759-1760.  On  my  way  to  the 
College  I  passed  the  Christmas  holidays  at  Colonel 
Dandridge's,  in  Hanover,  to  whom  Mr.  Henry 
was  a  near  neighbor.  During  the  festivity  of  the 
season  I  met  him  in  society  every  day,  and  we  be 
came  well  acquainted,  although  I  was  much  his  jun 
ior,  being  then  in  my  seventeenth  year  and  he  a 
married  man.  His  manners  had  something  of 
coarseness  in  them ;  his  passion  was  music,  danc 
ing,  and  pleasantry.  He  excelled  in  the  last,  and  it 
attached  everyone  to  him.  You  ask  some  account 
of  his  mind  and  information  at  this  period,  but  you 
will  recollect  that  we  were  almost  continually  en 
gaged  in  the  usual  revelries  of  the  season.  The  oc 
casion,  perhaps,  as  much  as  his  idle  disposition,  pre 
vented  his  engaging  in  any  conversation  which 
might  give  the  measure  either  of  his  mind  or  in 
formation.  Opportunity  was  not,  indeed,  wholly 
wanting,  because  Mr.  John  Campbell  was  there, 
who  had  married  Mrs.  Spotswood,  the  sister  of  Colo 
nel  Dandridge.  He  was  a  man  of  science  and  often 
introduced  conversation  on  scientific  subjects.  Mr. 
Henry  had,  a  little  before,  broken  up  his  store — or, 


PARENTAGE— EARLY   LIFE.  19 

rather,  it  had  broken  him  up ;  but  his  misfortunes 
were  not  traced,  either  in  his  countenance  or  con 
duct."  * 

This  account  was  given  to  Mr.  Wirt  after  Mr. 
Jefferson  had  become  an  old  man,  and  a  political 
opponent  of  Mr.  Henry,  and  his  statements  concern 
ing  him  must  be  taken  with  due  allowance.  Mr. 
Jefferson  is  certainly  inaccurate  in  stating  that  "  Mr. 
Henry  had,  a  little  before,  broken  up  his  store,  or 
rather  it  had  broken  him  up."  Mr.  Henry's  ledger 
shows  that  the  store  was  not  closed  before  July, 
1760,  and  the  closing-out  sale  of  the  remnant  of  his 
goods  was  made  to  one  firm,  Crenshaw  &  Grant, 
September  19,  1760. 

It  was  doubtless  after  he  had  become  aware  that 
the  store  and  farm  combined  would  not  support  his 
family,  that  Mr.  Jefferson  met  him.  His  cheerful 
ness  of  mind  was  not  the  result  of  callousness  as  to 
his  affairs,  but  of  a  cheerful  and  self-reliant  spirit 
which  no  misfortune  could  benumb. ;'  Before  he 
closed  his  mercantile  venture  he  had  determined  to 
try  the  profession  of  the  law,  for  which  he  was  con 
scious  of  at  least  one  qualification,  a  knowledge  of 
human  nature.  This  his  habit  of  close  observation 
and  ample  opportunities  as  a  merchant  had  given 
him  in  a  remarkable  degree.  While  doubtless 
drawn  to  the  profession  by  some  fancy  for  its  con 
tests,  he  was  not  yet  aware  of  the  genius  which  it 
was  to  develop  in  him.  Says  Judge  Edmund  Win 
ston,  his  first  cousin  and  contemporary  :  "  He  may 
be  considered  to  have  been  at  this  time  a  virtuous 
young  man,  unconscious  of  the  powers  of  his  own 

Wirt's  Henry,  32-3. 


20  PATRICK  HENRY. 

mind,  and  in  very  narrow  circumstances,  making  a 
last  effort  to  supply  the  wants  of  his  family.'7 1 

The  necessity  which  drove  him  to  this  step  proved 
an  incalculable  blessing,  and  when,  late  in  life,  he 
wrote  the  following  to  a  young  friend,  who  had 
been  unfortunate  in  business,  he  crystallized  into 
one  of  the  gems  of  English  literature  his  own  expe 
rience.  Said  he  :  u  Looking  forward  into  life  and  to 
those  prospects  which  seem  to  be  commensurate 
with  your  talents,  native  and  acquired,  you  may 
justly  esteem  those  incidents  fortunate  w^hich  com 
pel  an  exertion  of  mental  power,  maturity  of  which 
is  rarely  seen  growing  out  of  an  uninterrupted  tran 
quillity.  Adversity  toughens  manhood,  and  the 
characteristic  of  the  good  or  the  great  man,  is  not 
that  he  has  been  exempted  from  the  evils  of  life, 
but  that  he  has  surmounted  them."  2  Having  de 
termined  to  enter  the  profession,  he  borrowed  a  "  Coke 
upon  Littleton,"  and  a  "  Digest  of  the  Virginia  Acts." 
These  he  read  in  a  month  or  six  weeks,  by  close  ap 
plication,  and  then,  upon  the  advice  of  John  Lewis, 
a  prominent  lawyer  of  the  county,  he  rode  to  Will- 
iamsburg  and  appeared  before  the  Board  of  Exam 
iners  as  an  applicant  for  license.  Although  his  re 
tentive  memory  enabled  him  to  use  what  he  had 
read,  so  circumscribed  had  been  his  course,  that  the 
examiners,  before  whom  he  appeared  separately, 
were  said  to  have  been  reluctant  to  sign  his  license. 
His  experience  with  one  of  them,  the  accomplished 
John  Randolph,  afterward  Attorney-General  for  the 
colony,  was  related  by  Mr.  Henry  subsequently  to 

1  MS.  Letter  to  Mr.  Wirt. 

2  From  "The  Southern  Literary  Messenger,"  xix.,  317.     The  letter  is 
dated  June  2,  1793. 


PARENTAGE— EARLY   LIFE.  21 

his  friend,  Judge  John  Tyler.  Mr.  Randolph,  ac 
cording  to  Judge  Tyler,  was  not  at  first  pleased  with 
his  appearance  in  his  plain  country  clothes,  and  was 
indisposed  to  examine  him  at  all,  but  learning  that 
he  already  had  two  signatures  he  reluctantly  con 
sented  to  ask  him  some  questions. 

Mr.  Wirt,  in  giving  Judge  Tyler's  account,  says  : 

"  A  very  short  time  was  sufficient  to  satisfy  him  of 
the  erroneous  conclusion  which  he  had  drawn  from 
the  exterior  of  the  candidate.  With  evident  marks 
of  increasing  surprise  (produced,  no  doubt,  by  the 
peculiar  texture  and  strength  of  Mr.  Henry's  style, 
and  the  boldness  and  originality  of  his  combinations,) 
he  continued  the  examination  for  several  hours ;  in 
terrogating  the  candidate,  not  on  the  principles  of 
municipal  law,  in  which  he  no  doubt  soon  discovered 
his  deficiency,  but  on  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  na 
tions,  on  the  policy  of  the  feudal  system,  and  on  gen 
eral  history,  which  last  he  found  to  be  his  stronghold. 
During  the  very  short  portion  of  the  examination 
which  was  devoted  to  the  common  law,  Mr.  Ran 
dolph  dissented,  or  affected  to  dissent,  from  one  of 
Mr.  Henry's  answers,  and  called  upon  him  to  assign 
the  reasons  for  his  opinions.  This  produced  an  ar 
gument;  and  Mr.  Randolph  now  played  off  on  him 
the  same  arts  which  he  himself  had  so  often  prac 
tised  on  his  customers,  drawing  him  out  by  ques 
tions,  endeavoring  to  puzzle  him  by  subtleties,  as 
sailing  him  with  declamation,  and  watching  continu 
ally  the  defensive  operations  of  his  mind.  After  a 
considerable  discussion,  he  said  :  '  You  defend  your 
opinions  well,  sir,  but  now  to  the  law  and  to  the  testi 
mony.'  Hereupon  he  carried  him  to  his  office,  and 
opening  the  authorities  he  said  to  him :  i  Behold 
the  force  of  natural  reason ;  you  have  never  seen 
these  books,  nor  this  principle  of  the  law ;  yet  you 


22  PATRICK   HENRY. 

are  right  and  I  am  wrong ;  and  from  this  lesson 
which  you  have  given  me  (you  must  excuse  me  for 
saying  it,)  I  will  never  trust  to  appearances  again. 
Mr.  Henry,  if  your  industry  be  only  half  equal  to 
your  genius  I  augur  that  you  will  do  well,  and  be 
come  an  ornament  and  an  honor  to  your  profes 


sion.'1'1 


Mr.  Jefferson  has  given  two  accounts  of  this  ex 
amination,  not  entirely  consistent  with  each  other.2 
In  one  of  them,  that  given  to  Mr.  Wirt,  after  relating 
their  meeting  at  Colonel  Dandridge's  in  the  winter 
of  1759-60,  he  says  : 

"  The  spring  following  he  came  to  Williamsburg  to 
obtain  a  license  as  a  lawyer,  and  he  called  on  me  at 
college.  He  told  me  he  had  been  reading  law  only 
six  weeks.  Two  of  the  examiners,  however,  Peyton 
and  John  Randolph,  men  of  great  facility  of  temper, 
signed  his  license  with  as  much  reluctance  as  their 
dispositions  would  permit  them  to  show.  Mr.  Wythe 
absolutely  refused.  Robert  C.  Nicholas  refused  also 
at  first,  but  on  repeated  importunity  and  promises 
of  future  reading,  he  signed.  These  facts  I  had 
afterward  from  the  gentlemen  themselves,  the  two 
Randolphs  acknowledging  he  was  very  ignorant  of 
law,  but  that  they  perceived  him  to  be  a  young 
man  of  genius  and  did  not  doubt  he  would  soon 
qualify  himself."  3 

In  1824,  some  ten  years  later,  Mr.  Jefferson  said 
to  Daniel  Webster  and  the  Ticknors  at  Monticello : 

"  There  were  four  examiners,  "Wythe,  Pendleton, 
Peyton  Randolph,  and  John  Randolph.  Wythe  and 

1  Wirt's  Henry,  34. 

2  See  these  compared  in  Tyler's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  21. 

3  Memorandum  for  Mr.  Wirt.     "  Historical  Magazine,"  August,  1867, 
90. 


PARENTAGE— EARLY   LIFE.  23 

Pendleton  at  once  rejected  his  application ;  the  two 
Eandolphs  were,  by  his  importunity,  prevailed  upon 
to  sign  the  license ;  and  having  obtained  their  signa 
tures,  he  again  applied  to  Pendleton.  and  after  much 
entreaty  and  many  promises  of  future  study,  suc 
ceeded  also  in  obtaining  his.  He  then  turned  out 
for  a  practising  lawyer."  1 

Doubtless  the  account  given  Mr.  Wirt  by  Judge 
Tyler  is  the  most  correct  of  these.  It  is  very  cer 
tain  that  Mr.  Henry  was  poorly  prepared  to  stand 
an  examination  by  the  learned  lawyers  who  consti 
tuted  the  board.  But,  however  ignorant  of  his  la 
tent  powers,  it  is  clear  that  he  was  already  recognized 
as  a  man  of  uncommon  intellectual  gifts. 

1  Curtis's  Life  of  Webster,  i.,  584. 


CHAPTER  II. 

i 

PEOFESSIONAL  LIFE— 1760-1764. 

Begins  Practice  of  Law  in  Fall  of  1760. — His  Fee  Books  Preserved. 
— Large  Practice  from  the  Beginning  of  His  Professional  Life. 
— The  "Parsons'  Cause." — Events  Leading  to  It  and  Issues  In 
volved  in  It. — Mr.  Henry's  Appearance  in  It. — First  Exhibition 
of  His  Genius  as  an  Orator. — Large  Increase  of  His  Practice. — 
His  Appearance  in  Williamsburg  in  the  Contested  Election 
Case  of  Dandridge  vs.  Littlepage. — Purchase  of  a  Farm  in 
Louisa  County. — Judge  Lyons's  Account  of  His  Manner  at  the 
Bar. 

As  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Jefferson  fixes  the  visit  of  Mi-. 
Henry  to  Williamsburg,  to  obtain  his  license  as  a 
lawyer,  in  the  Spring  of  1760.1  If  this  be  correct, 
he  very  certainly  continued  his  studies  for  some 
months  after  his  return  before  commencing  the  prac 
tice.  That  all-important  book  to  a  young  attorney, 
a  volume  of  forms  of  declarations  and  pleas,  was 
given  him  by  Peter  Fontaine,  whose  sister  Mary 
Ann  had  married  Isaac  Winston,  the  uncle  of  Mr. 
Henry.  In  it,  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Henry,  are 
found  these  words :  "  Le  don  de  Pierre  de  la  Fon 
taine,"  and  "  Patrice  Henry  le  .  Jeune,  son  livre. 
Avrille  18th,  1760."  2 

The  appearance  of  his  first  fee  book  indicates  that 
he  did  not  commence  practice  till  the  fall  of  the 

1  Memorandum  sent  Mr.  Wirt,  printed  in  "  The  Philadelphia  Age  "  and 
"  Historical  Magazine,"  August,  1867,  90,  which  last  is  quoted. 

8  The  volume  was  given  to  the  author  by  Mr.  Bowyer  Caldwell,  of  the 
White  Sulphur  Springs,  W.  Va. 


<M  (ytst^&^  &^/t^t^£J   _ 


[A  PAGE  FROM  PATRICK  HENRY'S  FEE-BOOK.] 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  25 

year.  This  is  in  the  same  folio  in  which  he  kept 
the  ledger  of  his  mercantile  business.  The  last 
entry  touching  this  is  dated  September  19, 1760,  and 
is  a  charge  to  Crenshaw  &  Grant  of  the  remnant  of 
his  goods,  amounting  to  ^£25  Is.  3fd.  On  the  next 
leaf  he  commences  the  index  to  his  fee  accounts. 
His  fees  follow,  and  .are  charged  by  the  year,  but 
not  by  the  month.  His  first  clients  were  a  firm  of 
merchants,  Coutts  &  Crosse,  and  during  the  year 
1760  he  entered  the  names  of  sixty  clients,  and 
charged  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  fees,  besides 
those  charged  on  the  first  page,  which  has  been  lost 
from  the  book.  Such  a  remarkable  success  for  the 
first  few  months  of  his  professional  career  demon 
strates  conclusively  that  he  was  personally  popu 
lar,  and  was  recognized  as  an  industrious  and  capa 
ble  lawyer  from  the  beginning.  The  full  practice 
upon  which  he  at  once  entered  was  retained.  Of 
the  ninety-two  pages  of  his  fee  books,  extending 
through  the  year  1763,  sixteen  had  been  cut  out 
and  taken  away  by  relic-hunters,  or  otherwise  lost, 
before  the  book  came  into  the  possession  of  the  aur> 
thor.  But  estimating  that  the  fees  charged  on  the 
missing  pages  average  with  those  still  preserved, 
it  appears  that  from  the  fall  of  1 760  to  the  end  of 
1763,  Mr.  Henry  charged  fees  in  1,185  suits,  be 
sides  many  fees  for  advice,  and  for  preparing  papers 
out  of  court.  An  examination  of  these  entries  of 
fees  shows  that  Mr.  Henry  was  transacting  all  the 
business  of  a  country  practice,  his  courts  being  the 
county  courts  of  Hanover  and  the  surrounding 
counties.  The  county  courts,  held  by  justices,  were 
the  only  courts  in  the  colony,  except  the  General 
Court,  consisting  of  the  Governor  and  his  Council, 


26  PATRICK  HENRY. 

sitting  at  Williamsburg.  This  country  practice, 
which  embraced  every  branch  of  the  profession,  was 
the  best  training  which  he  could  have  had.  It  was 
impossible  for  him  to  have  acquired  or  retained  it, 
unless  he  had  been  attentive  and  faithful  in  his 
business,  and  industrious  in  his  habits,  for  the  great 
bulk  of  it  was  mere  routine  work,  such  as  bringing 
plain  actions  of  debt. 

The  fortunate  preservation  of  Mr.  Henry's  fee 
books,  covering  the  whole  time  of  his  service  at  the 
bar,  corrects  the  false  impression  of  him  as  a  law 
yer  given  to  the  world  through  Mr.  Jefferson's  com 
munication  to  Mr.  Wirt,  in  which  he  wrote : 

"  He  turned  his  views  to  the  law,  for  the  acquisi 
tion  or  practice  of  which  he  was  too  lazy.  .  .  . 
fie  never  undertook  to  draw  pleadings  if  he  could 
avoid  it,  or  to  manage  that  part  of  the  cause,  and 
very  unwillingly  engagedT  but  as  an  assistant  to 
speak  in  the  cause,  and  the  fee  was  an  indispen 
sable  preliminary,  observing  to  the  applicant  that 
he  kept  no  accounts,  never  putting  them  to  paper, 
which  was  true."  l 

The  neatly  kept  accounts,  showing  many  fees  for 
drawing  papers,  and  appearing  in  cases  in  which, 
from  their  nature,  he  must  have  been  the  only  coun 
sel,  and  the  moderate  fees  charged,  as  regulated  by 
statute,  prove  that  Mr.  Henry  was  a  very  different 
business  man  and  lawyer  from  the  picture  drawn  by 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  old  age.  Indeed, 
these  invaluable  records  of  his  professional  life 
show  that  Mr.  Henry's  success  as  a  lawyer  was  far 

'•Memorandum  of  Jefferson,  "Historical  Magazine,"  August,  1867, 
93. 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  27 

greater,  from  the  first,  than  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson  as 
claimed  by  his  ablest  biographer.1 

Such  a  practice,  although  the  fees  were  moderate 
and  not  rigidly  collected,  soon  enabled  Mr.  Henry 
to  relieve  himself  from  the  debt  he  had  incurred,  and 
not  only  to  support  his  family  comfortably,  but  to 
help  both  his  father  and  father-in-law,  who  were  not 
prosperous  men.  Their  accounts  on  his  books  show 
that  this  help  was  generously  extended. 

Mr.  Shelton  had  moved  to  Hanover  Court  House, 
and  opened  a  house  of  public  entertainment.  Mr. 
Henry,  while  attending  court,  stayed  with  him,  and 
it  is  said  sometimes  assisted  him  in  attending  to  the 
guests.  This,  no  doubt,  was  the  origin  of  the  state 
ment  made  by  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Mr.  Wirt  long  after 
ward.  He  wrote:  "He  acted,  as  I  have  under 
stood,  as  barkeeper  in  the  tavern  at  Hanover  Court 
House  for  some  time."  2  This  statement  was  indig 
nantly  denied  by  Colonel  Meredith  and  others,  who 
stated  that  nothing  could  have  been  more  repugnant 
to  Mr.  Henry  than  such  an  occupation.  The  evi 
dence  on  the  subject  has  been  examined  in  the  origi 
nal,  by  Mr.  Wirt  and  Dr.  Tyler,  and  both  have 
expressed  themselves  satisfied  that  the  statement 
repeated  by  Mr.  Jefferson  is  not  true.3  Indeed,  the 
business  recorded  on  Mr.  Henry's  fee  books  would 
have  prevented  his  occupying  his  time  in  any  other 
way,  than  in  attending  to  his  profession. 

The  entries  by  Mr.  Henry  on  his  mercantile  and 
fee  books  entirely  disprove  another  misstatement 
about  him,  namely,  that  he  was  an  illiterate  man 

1  Randall's  Life  of  Jefferson,  i.,  47. 

~-*°J      2  Memorandum,  "  Historical  Magazine,"  August,  1867,  93. 
3  Wirt's  Henry,  37,  and  Tyler's  Henry,  24. 


28  PATRICK   HENRY. 

when  he  entered  upon  his  profession.  These  entries 
are  in  a  well-formed  hand,  and  are  faultless  in  spell 
ing  and  punctuation.  The  same  may  be  said  of  all 
of  his  private  papers ;  and  when  the  reader  is  in 
troduced  to  his  correspondence,  he  will  find  his  com 
position  not  only  correct,  but  exceedingly  graceful. 
Mr.  Jefferson  told  Daniel  Webster  that  his  "pro 
nunciation  was  vulgar  and  vicious ; " 1  and  Governor 
John  Page  related  that  he  once  heard  him  say  : 
"  Naiteral  parts  is  better  than  all  the  larniri  upon 
y  earth" 2  This  vicious  pronunciation  and  bad  gram 
mar  were  evidently  used  to  point  some  exhibition  of 
humor,  of  v  aich  Mr.  Henry  was  fond,  as  he  was 
undoubtedly  a  good  grammarian.  What  is  called 
vulgar -and  vicious  pronunciation  by  Mr.  Jefferson, 
w«s  doubtless  the  country  mode  of  pronouncing  cer 
tain  words,  which  struck  the  ear  of  the  polished 
Jefferson  unpleasantly.  These  peculiarities  of  pro 
nunciation  were  not  confined  to  Mr.  Henry  how 
ever.  We  are  told  by  Judge  Hoane  that  the  ac 
complished  Edmund  Pendleton  was  in  the  habit  of 
saying  scaicely  for  scarcely,  and  the  no  less  scholar 
ly  John  Taylor,  of  Caroline,  of  saying  bare  for  bar.3 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  in  a  practice  of 
three  years,  such  as  Mr.  Henry  enjoyed,  he  made 
reputation  as  an  advocate.  Had  he  not  done  so, 
he  would  not  have  been  employed  in  November, 
1763,  as  a  forlorn  hope,  in  the  celebrated  "Parsons' 
Cause."  This  cause,  which  had  such  an  important 
bearing  upon  his  subsequent  life,  and  upon  the  his 
tory  of  Virginia,  deserves  a  careful  notice. 

The  charter  government  of  Virginia  allowed  her 

J  Curtis's  Life  of  Webster,  i.,  585.  2  Wirt's  Henr- 

3  MS.  Communication  to  Mr.  Wirt. 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  29 

a  House  of  B,urgesses,  elected  by  the  people,  which 
was  first  held  in  1619.  All  acts  of  this  body,  to 
become  laws,  however,  required  the  approval  of  the 
Governor  and  his  Council,  the  Governor  being  the 
representative  of  the  King.  But  an  act  approved 
by  both  the  Burgesses  and  the  Governor  and  Council 
might  be  disallowed  by  the  King.  This  operated 
greatly  to  the  inconvenience  and  injury  of  the  col 
ony,  as  it  was  impossible  to  meet  sudden  calamity 
and  distress  by  legislation,  which  was  dependent  on 
the  will  of  a  sovereign  with  whom  it  took  months 
to  communicate,  whose  information  as  -to  the  needs 
of  the  colony  was  necessarily  imperfe.  t,  and  who 
often  disallowed  laws  most  beneficial,  to  the  people. 
When  an  act  had  been  once  approved  by  the  King, 
he  required  all  subsequent  acts  making  any  altera 
tion  '  therein  to  be  suspended  in  terms,  until  they 
should  be  approved  by  him. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  problems  of  colonial  life 
was  that  of  currency.  The  colony  was  not  allowed 
the  privilege  of  coining  money,  and  its  trade  with 
the  mother  country  did  not  bring  in  British  gold. 
Tobacco  was  its  great  staple  for  export,  but  the  ab 
sorption  of  its  trade  by  Great  Britain,  and  the  dis 
couragements  to  home  manufactures,  resulted  in  a 
usual  balance  of  trade  against  the  colony.  Hugh 
Jones  wrote  in  1724  :  "  The  country  is  yearly  sup 
plied  with  vast  quantities  of  goods  from  Great 
Britain.  .  .  ,  The  merchants,  factors,  or  store 
keepers  in  Virginia  buy  up  the  tobacco  of  the 
planters,  either  for  goods  or  current  Spanish  money, 
or  with  sterling  bills  payable  in  Great  Britain."  1 

The  Spanish  money  was  coin  obtained  from  the 

1  Present  State  of  Virginia,  53,  55. 


30  PATRICK   HENRY. 

adjacent  Spanish  possessions,, and  was  in  small  quan 
tity.  From  necessity  the  planters  began  to  use  to 
bacco  as  a  medium  of  exchange,  and  to  make  their  ; 
contracts  payable  therein.  Various  acts  were  passed 
to  regulate  this  custom,  which  will  be  found  consol 
idated  in  1632,1  by  an  act  providing  for  five  ware 
houses,  in  which  all  tobacco  intended  to  be  used  as 
a  medium  of  trade  should  be  stored,  and  properly 
inspected,  that  found  to  be  below  the  standard 
quality  to  be  burned.  Several  subsequent  revis 
ions  were  made  of.  the  tobacco  laws,  and  it  came  to 
pass  that  the  certificates,  or  inspectors'  notes,  given 
at  the  legal  Warehouses,  became  the  main  currency 
of  the  colony,  the  value  of  .tobacco  being  quite  a 
steady  quantity.  In  this  currency  not  only  private,  , 
but  public  dues  were  solvable.  The  expenses  of 
government  were  estimated  and  taxes  were  levied  ' 
payable  in  it. 

As  early  as  1696,  the  salaries  of  the  clergy  of  the/'"' 
Established  Church  had  been  fixed  by  statute  at  six 
teen  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco,  to  be  levied  by  the  . 
several  vestries  on  their  parishes.2  This  was  besides 
their  "  lawful  perquisites,"  consisting  of  the  use  of 
the  glebes,  and  the  monopoly  of  marriage  and  burial 
fees.  In  1748  this  law  was  revised  and  re-enacted, 
and  this  new  act  was  approved  by  the  King.3  At 
this  time,  and  afterward  for  some  years,  the  value 
of  the  inspected  tobacco  was  rated  at  sixteen  shil 
lings  and  eight  pence  per  hundred  pounds,  at  the 
highest.  This  appears  by  the  act  of  1752,  provid 
ing  compensation  to  the  planters  who  had  suffered 
by  loss  from  the  overflow  of  certain  warehouses  on 

1  Hening  :  Statutes  at  Large,  i.,  203.  2  Id.,  iii.,  152. 

3  Id.,  vi.,  88. 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  31 

tide  water.1  This  was  fifty  per  cent,  advance  upon 
the  value  of  tobacco  in  1696,  when  the  salaries  of 
the  clergy  were  fixed  at  sixteen  thousand  pounds. 
In  October,  1755,  the  House  of  Burgesses,  finding 
that  a  great  drought  had  cut  short  the  crop  of  to 
bacco,  so  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  people 
to  pay  their  tobacco  debts  in  kind,  passed  an  act,  to 
continue  in  force  for  ten  months,  making  it  lawful 
for  debtors  to  pay  their  tobacco  dues  and  taxes  in 
money,  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  shillings  and  eight 
pence  for  every  hundred  pounds  of  tobacco.2  This 
being  at  the  rate  of  two  pence  per  pound  caused  the 
act  to  be  known  as  "  the  twopenny  act."  This  act, 
the  necessity  of  which  was  so  obvious,  was  very 
generally  acquiesced  in  by  creditors.3  As  it  was  an 
effort  to  regulate  a  fluctuating  currency  by  one  ac 
knowledged  to  be  the  standard,  and  only  directed  the 
value  to  be  placed  on  that  which  had  fluctuated 
which  was  in  the  minds  of  the  parties  to  the  con 
tracts  involved,  and  of  the  legislature  when  the 
public  taxes  were  laid,  it  must  be  admitted  to  have 
been  right  and  proper.  The  same  principle  was  ap 
plied  in  settling  debts  in  the  United  States,  in  France, 
and  in  the  late  Confederate  States,  upon  the  failure 
of  their  revolutionary  currencies.  Debtors  were  al 
lowed  to  pay  their  debts  contracted  with  reference 
to  the  collapsed  paper  money  as  a  standard  of  value, 
in  the  equivalent  value  in  specie. 

As  was  anticipated,  tobacco  rose  in  value,  but  the 
price  was  not  greatly  increased.4  Some  of  the  clergy 
were  unwilling  to  forego  the  advantage  of  collect 
ing  their  salaries  in  kind,  and  addressed  a  commu- 

1  Hening :  Statutes  at  Large,  vl,  237.  » Id.,  vi.,  368. 

3  Campbell's  History  of  Virginia,  507.  *  Perry's  Collections,  508. 


32  PATRICK   HENRY. 

nication  to  their  Diocesan,  the  Bishop  of  London, 
praying  that  he  would  exert  his  influence  to  have 
the  act  annulled  by  the  King.1  Among  the  peti 
tioners  was  the  Rev.  Patrick  Henry.  Others  of 
the  clergy  determined  to  make  no  opposition  to  the 
act,  declaring  that  they  thought  it  right  that  they 
should  share  in  the  misfortunes  of  the  community. 
Among  these  was  the  Rev.  James  Maury,  of  Louisa.2 
To  this  conclusion  came  the  convention  of  the  clergy 
afterward  held.3 

On  September  14,  1758,  upon  the  meeting  of  the 
Assembly,  it  was  apparent  that  the  unseasonable 
weather  of  the  summer  would  again  produce  a  short 
crop  of  tobacco.  An  act  similar  to  that  of  1755 
was  thereupon  passed,  to  continue  in  force  for  one 
year.  Neither  of  these  acts  had  the  usual  clause 
suspending  its  operation  until  the  royal  sanction  was 
obtained.  The  crop  fell  short  and  the  price  rose 
correspondingly.  Although  the  law  was  universal 
in  its  effects,  the  clergy  were  the  only  class  that  de 
termined  to  resist  its  operation-! — The*  Rev.  John 
Camm  assailed  the  action  of  the  Assembly  in  "  The 
Virginia  Gazette,'7  and  was  replied  to  by  Colonel 
Richard  Bland  and  Colonel  Landon  Carter,  two  of 
the  most  prominent  men  in  the  colony.  The  con 
test  was  acrimonious,  and  the  cause  of  the  clergy 
became  so  unpopular,  that  Mr.  Camm  was  forced 
to  go  to  Maryland  to  find  a  printer  for  his  rejoin 
der,  styled,  "  The  Colonels  Dismounted."  A  con 
vention  of  the  clergy  was  held,  and  they  determined 
to  appeal  to  the  King.  Mr.  Camm  was  sent  to 
England  with  a  petition  for  the  veto  of  the  act. 

1  Perry's  Collections,  440.  2  Memoirs  of  a  Huguenot  Family,  402. 

3  Perry's  Collections,  508. 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  33 

He  obtained  an  order  of  Council  to  this  effect, 
dated  August  10,  1759,  and  was  told  by  the  Lords 
of  Trade  and  the  Privy  Council  that  this  would 
render  the  act  void,  ab  initio.  He  thereupon  re 
turned  to  Virginia,  and  brought  a  suit  in  the  Gen 
eral  Court  to  test  the  validity  of  the  law,  deter 
mined  to  appeal  to  the  King  in  Council  if  defeated 
in  the  Virginia  Court.  The  Assembly  met  after 
ward  and  voted  to  bear  the  expenses  of  appeal  in 
all  cases  brought  by  the  clergy.  Thus  the  Assem 
bly  and  the  clergy  were  in  declared  antagonism. 
The  clergy  contended  that  their  salaries  must  be*"' 
considered  as  due  by  contracts  which  fixed  them  at 
sixteen  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  per  annum ; 
that  as  they  had  received  this  quantity  when  to 
bacco  was  low  because  of  large  crops,  so  they  were 
entitled  to  it  when  it  was  high  because  of  a  small 
crop ;  that  while  it  was  true  that  the  Governor  had 
approved  of  the  act,  he  had  done  so  in  violation  of 
his  general  instructions,  and  it  required  the  King's 
express  consent  to  give  it  force,  as  it  affected  a  pre 
vious  law  which  he  had  approved ;  and  that  once 
disapproved  it  was  shown  to  have  been  void,  ab 
initio. 

Those  who  defended  the  Assembly  urged,  that  the  * 
small  crop  had  made  it  impossible  for  debtors  to 
meet  their  tobacco  dues,  rendered  unusually  large 
by  the  burden  of  taxation  caused  by  the  French 
War;  that  the  act  was  general,  and  relieved  all 
debtors  who  owed  tobacco  ;  that  it  operated  not 
to  reduce  the  quantity,  but  to  fix  the  fair  value  of 
the  staple  contracted  for ;  that  of  all  classes  the 
clergy  should  be  the  first  to  sympathize  with  the 
distress  of  the  people,  but  now  they  were  found  to 


34  PATRICK  HENRY. 

be  the  only  creditors  who  wished  to  oppress  them  ; 
and  that  the  act,  having  received  the  approval  of 
the  royal  Governor,  was  of  force  till  it  was  disal 
lowed  by  the  King  himself,  when  it  had,  in  fact,  ex 
pired  by  its  terms.1  It  will  be  seen  that,  stripped  of 
the  moral  questions,  the  controversy  was  reduced  to 
the  sole  question  of  the  force  of  an  act  between  its 
date  and  the  disapproval  of  the  King. 

Some  of  the  clergy  were  unwilling  that  their 
rights  should  be  settled  by  the  suit  instituted  by 
Mr.  Camm,  and  they  brought  separate  actions  in  the 
county  cour-ts,  with  varied  results.  In  the  suit  of 
Rev.  Thomas  Warrington,  of  York  County,  the 
jury  gave  damages  against  the  parish  collector, 
but  the  court  held  the  act  to  be  valid  and  refused 
to  enter  up  judgment  for  the  plaintiff.  In  the  case 
of  Rev.  Alexander  White,  of  King  William,  all  the 
questions  were  left  to  the  jury,  and  they  found  for 
the  defendant.  In  both  of  these  cases  appeals  were 
taken  to  the  General  Court.2  None  of  the  suits 
brought  excited  such  interest  as  that  instituted  by 
Rev.  James  Maury,  of  the  parish  of  Fredericks ville, 
in  Louisa  County.  He  was  a  man  of  high  character, 
and  had  refused  to  oppose  the  previous  act.  On 
April  1,  1762,  he  brought  suit  in  the  County  Court 
of  Hanover,  in  the  name  of  the  vestry  of  his  parish, 
against  Thomas  Johnson  and  Tarlton  Brown,  col 
lectors  of  the  parish  levies,  and  the  sureties  on  their 
official  bond.  Peter  Lyons,  the  leading  lawyer  in 
that  part  of  the  colony,  and  afterward  the  distin 
guished  president  of  the  Virginia  Court  of  Appeals, 

1  Quite  a  full  discussion  of  the  act  will  be  found  in  Campbell's  History 
of  Virginia,  chap.  Ixv. 

*  See  Perry's  Collections  for  these  suits. 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  35 

was  his  counsel.  John  Lewis,  also  able  counsel,  ap 
peared  for  the  defendants,  and  relied  on  the  Act  of 
September  14,  1758,  with  which  they  had  strictly 
complied.  To  this  plea  the  plaintiff  demurred  as 
insufficient,  and  thus  raised  the  question  of  the  va 
lidity  of  the  act.  The  demurrer  was  argued  on  No 
vember  5,  1763,  and  was  sustained  by  the  court, 
which  thus  declared  the  act  to  have  been  null  and 
void.  Considering  the  popular  feeling,  this  action 
of  the  court,  presided  over  by  Colonel  John  Henry, 
is  highly  creditable  to  its  integrity  and  firmness. 
These  qualities,  indeed,  were  characteristic  of  the 
Virginia  magistrates,  and  when  we  remember  that 
they  were  selected  for  their  intelligence  and  stand 
ing  in  the  community,  and  held  office  by  a  life  ten 
ure,  we  can  understand  what  an  important  part  they 
played  in  the  history  of  the  colony. 

The  decision  upon  the  demurrer  left  nothing  to  be 
done  in  Mr.  Maury's  case  but  the  ascertainment  by 
a  jury  of  the  damages,  which  consisted  of  the  dif 
ference  between  the  money  actually  paid  him  and 
the  value  of  the  tobacco  to  which  he  was  entitled. 
The  litigation  had  thus  assumed  the  most  favorable 
aspect  for  the  clergy,  who  looked  upon  it  now  as  a 
test  case  in  which  the  jury  would  be  forced  to  give 
the  full  amount  of  the  damages  claimed.  Mr.  Lewis 
considered  the  cause  of  his  clients  lost,  and  in  this 
extremity  Patrick  Henry  was  employed  for  the  de 
fence. 

The  jury  trial  was  fixed  for  the  December'  term 
of  the  court,  commencing  on  the  first  day  of  the 
month,  and  excited  a  widespread  interest.  Not 
withstanding  the  inclement  season  of  the  year  a 
large  crowd  attended.  Early  in  the  morning  the 


36  PATRICK  HENRY. 

sturdy  planters,  in  their  home-spun  and  home-made 
clothes,  might  be  seen  approaching  the  court-house 
on  horseback.  Interspersed  with  them  were  the 
Scotch  merchants  and  richer  citizens,  dressed  in 
cloth  of  finer  texture.  These  mingled  freely  in  the 
court-yard,  while  grouped  by  themselves  might  be 
seen  the  ministers,  who  had  collected  from  the 
neighboring  parishes  to  the  number  of  twenty. 
Among  these  was  the  Rev.  Alexander  White,  whose 
defeat  before  a  jury  of  his  own  county  had  only 
served  to  intensify  his  interest  in  the  struggle 
of  the  clergy.  The  ordinary  topics  of  the  court 
yard  were  laid  aside,  and  instead  of  the  usual  in 
quiries  as  to  the  condition  of  the  tobacco  crop  in 
the  barns,  and  the  prices  to  be  expected  for  it; 
the  arrivals  of  vessels  from  abroad,  and  the  prices 
of  goods  expected  by  them;  the  absorbing  sub 
ject  of  conversation  was  the  controversy  with  the 
clergy. 

During  the  morning  the  carriage  of  the  venerable 
clergyman  of  the  county,  the  Rev.  Patrick  Henry, 
was  seen  approaching  the  court-house.  No  sooner 
was  it  recognized  by  his  nephew,  than  he  walked  to 
meet  him,  accompanied  by  his  brother-in-law,  Col 
onel  Samuel  Meredith.  When  the  aged  minister 
alighted  Mr.  Henry  accosted  him  most  respectfully, 
and  requested  him  not  to  appear  in  the  court-house 
on  that  day.  "  Why  ?  "  asked  the  old  gentleman. 
"  Because,"  replied  his  nephew,  "  I  am  engaged  in 
opposition  to  the  clergy,  and  your  appearance  there 
might  strike  me  with  such  awe  as  to  prevent  me 
from  doing  justice  to  my  clients."  "  Rather  than 
that  effect  should  be  produced,  Patrick,"  said  his 
uncle,  "  I  will  not  only  absent  myself  from  the  court- 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  37 

house,  but  will  return  home."     And,  accordingly, 
entering  his  carriage  again,  he  rode  away.1 

On  the  opening  of  the  court  Colonel  John  Henry 
occupied  his  seat  as  presiding  justice,  while  to  his 
right  and  left  sat  the  other  justices.  Next  to  these, 
on  the  same  long  bench,  the  clergy  found  seats,  ex 
cept  Mr.  Maury,  who  sat  in  the  bar  with  his  coun 
sel.  The  case  of  Maury  against  Johnson  and  others 
was  soon  called,  and  upon  the  announcement  of 
counsel  that  they  were  ready  for  trial,  the  sheriff 
was  ordered  to  summon  a  select  jury.  He  went 
out,  and  in  due  time  returned  with  a  list  which  did 
not  suit  the  plaintiff,  as  he  only  knew  one  or  two 
of  them,  and  none  belonged  to  the  class  known  as 
gentlemen.  He  thereupon  objected  to  the  panel,  but 
as  he  had  not  the  right  of  peremptory  challenge,  and 
could  not  show  good  cause  for  his  objection,  and  as 
Patrick  Henry  insisted  that  they  were  honest  men, 
and  therefore  unexceptionable,  they  were  sworn  as 
jurymen.  Their  names  were  Benjamin  Anderson, 
John  Wingfield,  George  Dabney,  John  Thornton, 
Samuel  Morris,  Brewster  Sims,  William  Claybrook, 
Stephen  Willis,  Jacob  Hundly,  Roger  Shackelford, 
John  Blackwell,  and  Benjamin  Oliver.2  Three  of 
them  certainly  were  Dissenters,  George  Dabney, 
Samuel  Morris,  and  Roger  Shackelford,  and  the  two 
last  had  been  prosecuted  in  1745  for  allowing  Rev. 
John  Roane  to  preach  at  their  houses.3  The  plain 
tiff's  counsel  introduced  as  testimony  the  bond  of 
the  defendants  as  collectors;  the  order  of  the  vestry 
directing  a  levy  to  be  made  for  the  salary  of  Mr. 

1  MS.  Memorandum  of  Colonel  Samuel  Meredith  made  for  Mr.  Wirt. 

2  Taken  from  the  record  of  the  case. 

3  Foote's  Sketches  of  Virginia,  142,  161. 


38  PATRICK  HENRY. 

Maury  in  1759  ;  and  two  witnesses,  Mr.  Gist  and 
Mr.  McDowell,  the  largest  dealers  in  tobacco  in  the 
county,  by  whom  it  was  proved  that  the  price  of 
tobacco  in  the  county  in  1759  was  fifty  shillings  per 
hundred  pounds.  Mr.  Lyons  here  rested  the  evi 
dence  for  the  plaintiffs.  The  counsel  for  the  defence 
then  introduced  the  receipt  of  Mr.  Maury  for  J6144, 
the  value  of  the  tobacco  due  him  as  commuted  by 
the  act  of  Assembly,  and  rested  their  evidence.  Mr. 
Lyons  then  arose  and  commenced  his  argument  for 
the  plaintiff.  He  explained  to  the  jury  the  issue 
they  had  been  sworn  to  try,  and  how  it  had  been 
narrowed  down,  by  the  decision  of  the  court  on  the 
law,  to  a  simple  calculation  of  the  difference  be 
tween  the  ,£144  actually  paid,  and  the  value  of  six 
teen  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  at  fifty  shillings  per 
hundred.  He  was  not  content  to  rest  his  case,  how 
ever,  on  the  bare  application  of  the  law  to  the  facts 
proved,  but,  recognizing  the  existence  of  popular  feel 
ing  against  the  clergy,  he  attempted  to  disarm  it  by 
a  highly  wrought  eulogium  upon  their  benevolence. 

Mr.  Henry  had  studied  profoundly  his  case.  To 
him  it  was  not  a  mere  matter  of  dollars  and  cents, 
but  involved  the  dearest  rights  of  the  people  as  he 
had  learned  them  from  the  pages  of  English  history. 
While  he  brooded  over  this  thought  he  felt  the  quick 
ening  of  a  hitherto  unknown  genius,  which,  under  the 
powerful  stimulus  of  his  first  great  cause,  was  to  burst 
forth  into  full  flower.  The  man  and  the  occasion  had 
met,  and  both  were  to  be  ever  afterward  famous. 

He  rose  to  reply  to  Mr.  Lyons  with  apparent  em 
barrassment  and  some  awkwardness,  and  began  a 
faltering  exordium.  The  people  hung  their  heads 
at  the  unpromising  commencement,  and  the  clergy 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  39 

were  observed  to  exchange  sly  looks  with  each, 
other,  while  his  father  sank  back  in  his  chair  in  evi 
dent  confusion.  All  this  was  of  short  duration  how 
ever.  As  he  proceeded  and  warmed  up  with  his 
subject,  a  wondrous  change  came  over  him.  His 
attitude  became  erect  and  lofty,  his  face  lighted  up 
with  genius,  and  his  eyes  seemed  to  flash  fire ; 
his  gesture  became  graceful  and  impressive,  his  voice 
and  his  emphasis  peculiarly  charming.  His  appeals 
to  the  passions  were  overpowering.  In  the  language 
of  those  who  heard  him,  "  he  made  their  blood  to 
run  cold,  and  their  hair  to  rise  on  end."  In  a  word, 
to  the  astonishment  of  all,  he  suddenly  burst  upon 
them  as  an  orator  of  the  highest  order.  The  sur 
prise  of  the  people  was  only  equalled  by  their  de 
light,  and  so  overcome  was  his  father  that  tears 
flowed  profusely  down  his  cheeks. 

The  line  of  argument  taken  in  this  celebrated 
speech  has  been  preserved  by  the  plaintiff,  in  a  let 
ter  written  a  few  days  afterward  to  the  Rev.  John 
Camm,1  and  by  Captain  Thomas  Trevilian,  one  of 
the  audience,  who  related  for  years  afterward  one 
of  the  passages.2  From  these  sources  the  following 
outline  of  the  speech  is  taken. 

Mr.  Henry  commenced  by  stating  his  view  of  the 
issues  involved  in  the  case.  He  then  entered  upon 
a  discussion  of  the  mutual  relations  and  reciprocal 
duties  of  the  king  and  his  subjects.  He  maintained 
that  government  was  a  conditional  compact,  com 
posed  of  mutual  and  dependent  covenants,  the  king 
stipulating  protection  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  peo 
ple  stipulating  obedience  and  support  on  the  other. 

1  Memoirs  of  a  Huguenot  Family,  418. 

2  MS.  Letter  of  N.  Pope  to  Mr.  Wirt. 


40  PATRICK  HENBT, 

He  declared  that  a  violation  of  these  covenants  by 

either  party  discharged  tin:  other  From  obligation. 
JIc  claimed  that  in  the  colonial  government  the 
Huri/esses  represented  the  House  of  Commons,  the 
(Jounc.il  the  House  of  Lords,  and  the  Governor  the. 
Kin*/,  and  that  a  law  approved  by  these  should  be 
deemed  valid  until  it  was  disallowed.  He  then  took 
up  the  act  oF  1758,  and  discussed  its  provisions,  and 
the  necessities  oF  the  people  which  caused  its  enact 
ment.  He  contended  that  it  had  every  character 
istic  of  a  good  law,  that  it  was  a  law  ol  general 
utility,  and  could  not  be  annulled  consistently  with 
the  compact  between  the  King  and  people;  that  the 
disallowance  by  the  King  of  this  salutary  act  was 
an  instance  of  misrule,,  and  neglect  of  the  interests 
of  the  colony,  which  made  it  necessary  that  they 
should  provide  for  their  own  safety  by  adhering 
to  the  directions  of  the,  act;  and  that  by  this  con 
duct  the  King,  from  being  the;  father  of  his  people, 
had  degenerated  into  a  tyrant,  and  forfeited  all 
right  to  his  subjects'  obedience  to  his  order  regard 
ing  it.  At  this  point  Mr.  Lyons  cried  out  with 
warmth,  "The  gentleman  lias  spoken  treason,  and  I 
a, m  astonished  that  your  Worships  can  hear  it  with 
out  emotion,  or  any  mark  of  dissatisfaction."  At 
the  same;  instant  among  some  gentlemen  behind  the 
bar  there  was  a  confused  murmur  of  "Treason! 
Treason!"  Mr.  Jlenry  paid  no  attention  to  the 
interruption,  but  continued  in  the  same  strain, 
without  receiving  any  sign  of  disapprobation  from 
the  bench,  which  sat  spell-bound  by  his  eloquence, 
while  some  of  the  jury  nodded  their  approbation. 
Passing  from  this  topic,  the  speaker  next  discussed 
the  relations  of  (he  clergy  to  the;  people.  He  con- 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  41 

tended  that  the  only  use  of  an  established  church 
and  clergy  in  society  is  to  enforce  obedience  to 
civil  sanctions,  and  the  observance  of  those  which 
are  called  duties  of  imperfect  obligation;  that  when 
a  clergy  cease  to  answer  these  ends,  the  community 
have  no  further  need  of  their  ministry,  and  may  justly 
strip  them  of  their  appointments ;  that  the  clergy 
of  Virginia,  in  this  particular  instance  of  their  refus 
ing  to  acquiesce  in  the  law  in  question,  so  far  from 
answering,  had  most  notoriously  counteracted  those 
great  ends  of  their  institution ;  that  therefore,  instead 
of  useful  members  of  the  State,  they  ought  to  be 
considered  as  enemies  of  the  community ;  and  that 
in  the  case  now  before  them,  Mr.  Maury,  instead  of 
countenance  and  protection  and  damages,  very  justly 
deserved  to  be  punished  with  signal  severity.  While 
discussing  this  part  of  his  subject,  he  said,  as  Cap 
tain  Trevilian  relates,  "  We  have  heard  a  great  deal 
about  the  benevolence  and  holy  zeal  of  our  reverend 
clergy,  but  how  is  this  manifested  ?  Do  they  mani 
fest  their  zeal  in  the  cause  of  religion  and  humanity 
by  practising  the  mild  and  benevolent  precepts  of 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  ?  Do  they  feed  the  hungry  and 
clothe  the  naked  ?  Oh,  no,  gentlemen  !  Instead  of 
feeding  the  hungry  and  clothing  the  naked,  these 
rapacious  harpies  would,  were  their  powers  equal  to 
their  will,  snatch  from  the  hearth  of  their  honest 
parishioner  his  last  hoe-cake,  from  the  widow  and 
her  orphan  children  their  last  milch  cow  !  the  last  * 
bed,  nay,  the  last  blanket  from  the  lying-in  woman  !  " 
These  words,  uttered  with  all  the  power  of  the 
orator,  aroused  in  the  audience  an  intense  feeling 
against  the  clergy,  which  became  so  apparent  as  to 
cause  the  reverend  gentlemen  to  leave  their  seats 


42  PATRICK  HENRY. 

on  the  bench,  and  to  quit  the  court-house  in  dis 
may.1 

The  speaker,  continuing,  described  the  bondage  of 
a  people  who  were  denied  the  privilege  of  enacting 
their  own  laws,  and  told  the  jury  that,  unless  they 
were  disposed  to  rivet  the  chains  of  bondage  on  their 
necks,  he  hoped  they  would  not  let  slip  the  oppor 
tunity,  which  was  now  offered,  of  making  such  an  ex 
ample  of  the  plaintiff,  as  might  hereafter  be  a  warn 
ing  to  himself  and  to  his  brethren  not  to  dispute  the 
validity  of  such  laws,  authenticated  by  the  only 
authority  which  in  his  conception  could  give  force 
to  laws  for  the  government  of  the  colony,  the  au 
thority  of  a  House  of  Burgesses,  of  a  Council,  and 
of  a  kind,  benevolent,  and  patriotic  Governor.  He 
added  that,  under  the  ruling  of  the  court,  they  must 
find  for  the  plaintiff,  but  they  need  not  find  more 
than  one  farthing,  and  that  this  would  accomplish 
all  that  the  defence  desired. 

When  he  had  concluded,  after  speaking  about  an 
hour,  his  associate  declined  to  add  anything  to  the 
defence,  and  Mr.  Lyons  closed  the  case  for  the  plain 
tiff,  vainly  endeavoring  to  break  the  force  of  Mr. 
Henry's  speech.  When  he  sat  down  the  jury  retired 
to  consult,  and  in  less  than  five  minutes  returned 
with  a  verdict  of  one  penny  damages  for  the  plain 
tiff.  Mr.  Lyons  objected  to  receiving  the  verdict, 
insisting  that  it  was  contrary  to  the  evidence,  and 
asked  that  the  jury  be  sent  out  again.  This  motion 
the  court  promptly  overruled,  and  ordered  the  ver 
dict  to  be  recorded.  He  then  moved  for  a  new  trial, 
which  was  also  refused ;  and,  lastly,  he  prayed  for 
an  appeal  to  the  General  Court,  which  was  granted. 

\Wirfs  Henry,  45. 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  43 

The  feelings  of  the  excited  people,  which  with  diffi 
culty  had  been  restrained,  now  overleaped  all  bounds, 
and,  wild  with  delight,  they  seized  their  champion 
and  bore  him  on  their  shoulders  in  triumph  around 
the  court-yard.  He  had  not  only  proved  himself 
to  be  an  orator  of  the  highest  order,  mastering  the 
emotions  and  judgment  of  his  audience,  but  he  had 
openly  and  powerfully  attacked  the  tyranny  in 
Church  and  State,  which  all  felt  and  yet  no  one  had 
been  bold  enough  to  denounce.  It  is  said  that  the 
people  who  heard  this  famous  speech  never  tired  of 
talking  of  it,  and  they  could  pay  no  higher  compli 
ment  to  a  speaker  afterward  than  to  say  of  him, 
"He  is  almost  equal  to  Patrick  Henry  when  he 
plead  against  the  parsons."  l 

Colonel  John  Henry's  feelings  were  modestly  ex 
pressed  a  few  days  afterward  to  Judge  Edmund 
Winston  in  these  words :  "  Patrick  spoke  near  an 
hour,  without  hesitation  or  embarrassment,  and  in 
a  manner  that  surprised  me,  and  showed  himself 
well  informed  on  a  subject  of  which  I  did  not  know 
he  had  any  knowledge."  2 

In  the  hour  of  his  triumph  Mr.  Henry,  with  a 
generosity  characteristic  of  him,  sought  Mr.  Maury, 
smarting  under  his  defeat  and  the  attack  upon  his 
class,  in  order  that  he  might  disclaim  any  personal 
ill-will  toward  him  or  them.  Mr.  Maury,  in  his 
letter  to  Mr.  Camm,  gives  an  account  of  this  inter 
view  and  of  the  impression  the  day's  occurrences 

made  upon  him.     He  wrote  : 

|j 

"  After  the  court  was  adjourned,  he  apologized 
to  me  for  what  he  had  said,  alleging  that  his  sole 

1  Wirt's  Henry,  46.  2  MS.  Letter  of  Judge  Winston  to  Mr.  Wirt. 


44  PATRICK   HENRY. 

view  in  engaging  in  the  cause,  and  in  saying  what 
he  had,  was  to  render  himself  popular.  You  see, 
then,  it  is  so  clear  a  point  in  this  person's  opinion 
that  the  ready  road  to  popularity  here  is  to  trample 
under  foot  the  interests  of  religion,  the  rights  of  the 
Church,  and  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown.  If  this 
be  not  pleading  for  the  4  assumption  of  a  power  to 
bind  the  King's  hands,7  if  it  be  not  asserting  *  such 
supremacy  in  provincial  legislation '  as  is  incon 
sistent  with  the  dignity  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  manifestly  tends  to  draw  the  people  of  these 
plantations  from  their  allegiance  to  the  King,  tell 
me,  my  dear  sir,  what  is  so,  if  you  can.  Mr.  Cootes, 
merchant  on  James  River,  after  court,  said  'he 
would  have  given  a  considerable  sum  out  of  his 
own  pocket,  rather  than  his  friend  Patrick  should 
have  been  guilty  of  a  crime  bat  little,  if  anything, 
inferior  to  that  which  brought  Simon,  Lord  Lovatt, 
to  the  block  ; '  and  justly  observed  that  he  exceeded 
the  most  seditious  and  inflammatory  harangues  of 
the  tribunes  of  old  Rome."  1 

Mr.  Cootes  (or  Coutts),  who  thus  at  once  indi 
cated  his  affection  for  the  King  and  the  treasonable 
advocate,  had  been  Mr.  Henry's  first  client.  He 
fairly  represented  the  high  Toryism  which  was 
characteristic  of  the  Scotch  merchants  who  lived  in 
Virginia. 

The  clergy  were  greatly  irritated,  and  more  than 
hinted  that  Mr.  Henry,  whom  they  styled  "an  ob 
scure  attorney,"  should  be  prosecuted  for  treason, 
and,  it  is  said,  furnished  the  Crown  officers  of  the 
colony  with  a  list  of  names  as  witnesses.  No  prose 
cution,  however,  was  attempted.  Trusting  to  the 
appellate  courts,  the  clergy  continued  the  struggle. 

1  Memoirs  of  a  Huguenot  Family,  423. 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  45 

In  1764  the  Rev.  Patrick  Henry,  through  Mr. 
Lyons,  his  attorney,  instituted  a  suit  in  Hanover 
against  Henry  Thompkins,  late  collector  of  St. 
Paul's  parish,  for  the  tobacco  due  him  for  the  year 
1759.  This  suit  was  defended  by  his  nephew  as  at 
torney  for  the  defendant,  and  was  allowed  to  be 
continued  till  the  result  of  Mr.  Camm's  suit  was 
known,  and  was  then  dismissed. 

During  the  same  year  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Camm  was  tried  before  the  Governor  and  his  Council, 
sitting  as  a  general  court,  Robert  Carter  Nicholas  ap 
pearing  for  the  defence,  and  was  decided  against  the 
plaintiff,  on  the  ground  that  the  act  was  in  force  till 
disallowed  by  the  King.  The  majority  thus  voting 
were  John  Blair,  John  Taylor,  William  Byrd,  Pres 
ley  Thornton,  and  Robert  Burwell.  The  minority, 
who  voted  to  give  damages,  were  Richard  Corbin, 
Peter  Randolph,  Philip  Ludwell  Lee,  and  Robert 
Carter.  There  were  two  members,  Thomas  and 
William  Nelson,  who  excused  themselves  from  vot 
ing,  being  parishioners  of  Mr.  Camm.  They  would 
have  changed  the  decision.  Governor  Fauquier,  was 
not  required  to  vote,  as  there  was  no  tie,  but  he  never 
theless  declared  his  belief  that  the  act  was  bind 
ing. 

Mr.  Camm  appealed  to  the  Privy  Council  in  Eng 
land,  and  pending  his  appeal  the  court  refused  to 
hear  any  other  similar  case.  The  appeal  was 
heard  in  1767,  and  the  decision  of  the  General  Court 
was  affirmed,  on  the  ground,  it  is  said,  that  Mr. 
Camm's  suit  was  improperly  brought,  and  without 
going  into  the  merits.  This  was  believed  to  be, 
and  doubtless  was,  but  a  pretext  to  get  rid  of  a 
troublesome  question,  for  the  discussion  of  which 


46  PATRICK   HENRY. 

the  times  were  not  then  suited.  Thus  the  clergy 
saw  the  men  who  had  advised  Mr.  Camm  to  bring 
his  suit  in  1760,  vote  to  dismiss  it  in  1767,  for  po 
litical  reasons. 

This  decision  settled  the  litigation  of  the  clergy 
in  Virginia,  and  they  found  that,  instead  of  gaining 
their  salaries,  they  had  greatly  weakened  their  hold 
upon  the  public,  and  had  given  a  fresh  impulse  to 
the  spirit  of  dissent,  already  grown  strong  in  the 
colony.  Not  only  so,  but  the  struggle  greatly 
strained  the  bond  between  the  King  and  the  colo 
nists,  and  was  the  prelude  to  the  great  contest  which 
snapped  that  bond  asunder,  the  keynote  to  which 
Mr.  Henry  had  boldly  struck. 

The  argument  of  the  "  Parsons'  Cause  "  increased 
Mr.  Henry's  practice  greatly.  During  the  first  year 
afterwards  his  fee  book  shows  that  he  entered  the 
names  of  164  new  clients,  and  charged  555  fees.  In 
that  year  he  was  called  to  Williamsburg  to  represent 
his  friend  Captain  Nathaniel  West  Dandridge,  before 
the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections  of  the  As 
sembly,  in  a  contest  with  James  Littlepage,  the  re 
turned  member.  It  is  doubtful  whether  he  had  ever 
visited  Williamsburg  before.  If  he  had  done  so,  it 
was  in  no  way  to  attract  attention,  and  he  was  per 
sonally  known  to  but  few  of  the  persons  he  now  met. 
The  session  of  the  Assembly,  and  the  vice -regal  state 
in  which  the  Governor  lived,  caused  the  town  to  be 
filled  with  an  elegant  society,  which  strikingly  con 
trasted  with  the  plain  society  in  which  he  lived.  He 
is  said  to  have  appeared  in  country  garb,  and  wher 
ever  he  went  attracted  the  attention  of  the  curious. 
Judge  Tyler  has  given  the  following  account  of  his 
appearance  before  the  committee  : 


PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.  47 

"  The  proud  airs  of  aristocracy,  added  to  the  dig 
nified  forms  of  that  truly  august  body,  were  enough 
to  have  deterred  any  man  possessing  less  firmness 
and  independence  of  spirit  than  Mr.  Henry.  He 
was  ushered  with  great  state  and  ceremony  into  the 
room  of  the  committee,  whose  chairman  was  Colonel 
Bland.  Mr.  Henry  was  dressed  in  very  coarse  ap 
parel  ;  no  one  knew  anything  of  him,  and  scarcely 
was  he  treated  with  decent  respect  by  anyone  ex 
cept  the  chairman,  who  could  not  do  so  much  vio 
lence  to  his  feelings  and  principles  as  to  depart,  on 
any  occasion,  from  the'  delicacy  of  the  gentleman. 
But  the  general  contempt  was  soon  changed  into  a 
general  admiration,  for  Mr.  Henry  distinguished 
himself  by  a  copious  and  brilliant  display  on  the 
great  subject  of  the  rights  of  suffrage,  superior  to 
anything  that  had  been  heard  before  within  those 
walls.  Such  a  burst  of  eloquence  from  a  man  so 
very  plain  and  ordinary  in  appearance  struck  the 
committee  with  amazement,  so  that  a  deep  and 
perfect  silence  took  place  during  the  speech,  and  not 
a  sound,  but  from  his  lips,  was  to  be  heard  in  the 


room."  1 


Judge  Winston  says  : 3 

"  Some  time  after,  a  member  of  the  House,  speak 
ing  to  me  of  this  occurrence,  said  he  had  for  a, 
day  or  two  observed  an  ill-dressed  young  man  saun 
tering  in  the  lobby,  that  he  seemed  to  be  a  stranger 
to  everybody,  and  he  had  not  the  curiosity  to  in 
quire  his  name,  but  that  attending  when  the  case 
of  a  contested  election  came  on,  he  was  surprised  to 
find  this  same  person  counsel  for  one  of  the  parties, 
and  still  more  so,  when  he  delivered  an  argument 
superior  to  anything  he  ever  heard." 

1  Wirt's  Henry,  58.  »Id.,59. 


48  PATRICK  HENRY. 

The  report  of  the  evidence  in  the  case  is  spread 
upon  the  journal,  and  shows  that  an  effort  had  been 
made  to  get  Mr.  Henry  to  offer  himself  for  the  vacant 
seat,  and  that  so  great  was  his  popularity  in  the 
county,  that  the  other  candidate  would  have  prob 
ably  retired  in  his  favor.  But  he  was  not  yet  ready 
to  engage  in  public  life.  He  was  trying  to  attain  in 
dependence  by  the  practice  of  his  profession.  At  this 
period  of  his  life  he  had  not  overcome  his  passion  for 
hunting.  He  is  represented  as  often  appearing  at  his 
courts  in  his  hunting  garb,  fresh  from  the  chase,  but 
always  ready  when  his  cases  were  called,  and  if  they 
allowed  any  scope  for  the  advocate,  invariably  en 
chanting  court  and  jury  by  his  wonderful  eloquence. 
Ever  after  the  "Parsons'  Cause,"  his  manner  of 
speaking  was  irresistibly  captivating,  even  when  the 
subject  seemed  trivial.  One  who  was  often  his  ad 
versary,  Judge  Peter  Lyons,  says  of  him : 

"  I  could  write  a  letter  or  draw  a  declaration 
or  plea  at  the  bar  with  as  much  accuracy  as  I 
could  in  my  office,  under  all  circumstances,  except 
when  Patrick  rose  to  speak  •  but  whenever  he  rose, 
although  it  might  be  on  so  trifling  a  subject  as  a 
summons  and  petition  for  twenty  shillings,  I  was 
obliged  to  lay  down  my  pen,  and  could  not  write 
another  word  until  the  speech  was  finished."  * 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  Mr.  Henry's  reputa 
tion  went  abroad  after  the  "  Parsons'  Cause,"  and 
that  he  was  considered  the  most  eloquent  advocate 
in  the  colony. 

1  Wirt's  Henry,  56. 


CHAPTER  III. 

POLITICAL  TEOUBLES  WITH  ENGLAND-1764-1765. 

Cause  of  Troubles  between  England  and  the  American  Colonies. — 
Charter  Eights. — Local  Governments. — Virginia  Early  Claims 
the  Sole  Right  to  Tax  Herself. — Commercial  Restrictions. — 
Colonial  Government  in  England. — Laws  of  Trade. — Power  of 
Parliament. — Effort  at  Union  in  1754. — Defeat  of  Plans. — James 
Otis  and  Writs  of  Search. — War  between  England  and  France. — 
Peace  of  Paris  in  1763,  and  Immense  Territory  Secured  to  Eng 
land  in  America. — Joy  in  America. — Taxation  of  America  Pro 
posed  in  Parliament. — Parties  Created  by  it. — Protests  against 
It. — The  Stamp  Act. — Its  Reception  in  America. — Submission 
Expected  and  Prepared  for  in  the  Colonies. — What  would  have 
been  its  Effect. 

WHILE  Mr.  Henry  was  winning  his  high  position  at 
the  bar,  the  political  troubles  between  England  and 
her  American  colonies  were  assuming  a  serious  as 
pect.  Those  troubles  were  the  result  of  a  series  of 
mistakes  on  the  part  of  the  mother  country  on  the 
one  side,  and  of  the  independent,  restless  spirit 
which  pervaded  the  colonies  on  the  other.  That 
spirit  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  principles  of  liberty 
brought  over  by  men  fleeing  from  oppression,  and 
nourished  in  communities  of  pioneers,  whose  con 
stant  exposure  to  danger  rendered  them  self-reliant 
and  brave,  who  hated  arbitrary  power,  and  rejoiced 
in  the  liberty  of  thought  and  action  which  was 
characteristic  of  the  Western  World. 

The  charter  granted  by  King  James  on  April  10, 
1606,  to  the  London  Company  which  planted  the 


50  PATRICK   HENRY. 

first  permanent  English  colonies  in  America,  con 
tained  the  following  provision : 

"  Also  we  do,  for  us,  our  heirs,  and  successors,  de 
clare,  by  these  presents,  that  all  and  every  the  per 
sons,  being  our  subjects,  which  shall  dwell  and  in 
habit  within  every  or  any  of  the  said  colonies  and 
plantations,  and  every  of  their  children,  which  shall 
happen  to  be  born  within  any  of  the  limits  and  pre 
cincts  of  the  said  several  colonies  and  plantations, 
shall  have  and  enjoy  all  liberties,  franchises,  and 
immunities,  within  any  of  our  other  dominions,  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  as  if  they  had  been  abiding 
and  born  within  this  our  realm  of  England,  or  any 
other  of  our  said  dominions." 

,  Similar  provisions  are  found  in  all  subsequent 
charters.  With  this  distinct  pledge  that  they 
were  to  enjoy  all  the  "  liberties,  franchises,  and  im 
munities"  of  Englishmen,  the  several  English 
American  colonies  were  settled  by  men  who  left 
their  homes  in  the  Old  World,  and  risked  their 
lives  in  subduing  the  forests  and  the  savages  of  the 
New.  Had  their  charters  not  contained  such  a  pro 
vision,  however,  still  Englishmen  acknowledging 
allegiance  to  Great  Britain  would  have  been  enti 
tled,  wherever  resident,  to  all  the  "  liberties,  fran 
chises,  and  immunities "  of  British  subjects ;  and 
men  of  other  nationalities  becoming  citizens  of  Brit 
ish  colonies  and  subjects  of  the  British  Crown, 
would  equally  have  become  entitled  to  the  rights  of 
native-born  Englishmen. 

The  several  colonies,  separated  by  an  ocean  from 
the  mother  country,  instinctively  organized  local 
governments,  Virginia  leading  the  way,  and  in  doing 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.      51 

so  carried  free  institutions  much  beyond  what  the 
colonists  had  enjoyed  in  the  Old  World.  They 
claimed  and  enjoyed  trial  by  jury  and  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  the  great  guardians  of  person  and 
property.  But  in  addition,  each  colony  enacted 
laws  for  itself  in  its  own  General  Assembly, 
and  the  elective  franchise  was  far  more  liberal 
than  in  England,  even  at  this  day.  The  Gover 
nor  was  ordinarily  appointed  by  the  King,  and  was 
regarded  as  his  representative,  the  Council  was  ap 
pointed,  or  nominated,  by  the  Governor,  and  was 
the  representative  of  the  House  of  Lords,  while  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  elected  by  the  people,  repre 
sented  the  House  of  Commons. 

In  June,  1619,  Governor  Yeardley  convened  the 
first  Virginia  Assembly,  which  was  the  first  repre 
sentative  body  that  ever  sat  in  America.  As  early 
as  1624,  ten  years  before  any  other  colony  had  an 
assembly,  this  body  declared,  that  "  The  Governor 
shall  not  lay  any  taxes  or  ympositions  upon  the 
colony,  their  lands  or  comodities,  otherway  than 
by  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  be 
levyed  and  ymployed  as  the  said  Assembly  shall 
appoynt."  *  Thus  the  Virginians  from  the  first 
claimed  the  protection  of  the  great  principle  which 
has  proved  the  bulwark  of  British  liberty,2  and 
for  which  so  much  blood  has  been  .shed.  This 
claim  was  reasserted  from  time  to  time  by  Virginia, 
and  the  other  colonies  followed  her  example. 

Until  Cromwell  ruled  in  England  the  trade  of  the 
colonies  was  open  to  all  the  world.  But  that  great 
ruler,  finding  that  the  Dutch  were  monopolizing  the 

1  Hening  :  Statutes  at  Large,  i.,  124. 

2  De  Lolme  on  the  Constitution  of  England,  ch.  xx. 


52  PATRICK   HENRY. 

carrying  trade  of  the  world,  to  the  great  injury  of 
British  shipping,  caused  an  act  to  be  passed  in  1651, 
requiring  that  the  commerce  of  England  with  all  the 
world  should  be  conducted  in  ships  solely  owned,  and 
principally  manned,  by  Englishmen.  This  act  was 
not  seriously  objected  to,  and  not  rigidly  enforced, 
in  the  colonies.  But  the  same  parliament  that  re 
stored  Charles  II.  passed  another  navigation  act,  by 
which,  not  content  with  protecting  English  shipping, 
it  was  sought  to  give  a  complete  monopoly  to  the 
English  merchants  of  the  commerce  of  the  colonies, 
now  become  exceedingly  valuable.  By  this  act,  and 
its  amendment  in  1663,  all  the  colonial  trade,  both 
import  and  export,  was  required  to  be  in  English 
bottoms  and  with  Englishmen.  It  was  only  when 
there  was  no  sale  for  them  in  England,  that  articles 
raised  in  America  could  be  carried  to  some  other 
country.  By  another  amendment  the  liberty  of  free 
traffic  between  the  colonies  was  taken  away,  and  a 
duty  imposed  on  intercolonial  trade  equal  to  that 
required  on  exports  to  England. 

For  more  than  a  century  this  harsh  and  irritat 
ing  policy  was  pursued,  every  amendment  having 
for  its  object,  the  more  thorough  establishment  of 
the  monopoly  of  the  commerce  of  the  colonies  in 
the  hands  of  British  merchants.  That  the  colonists 
were  justified  in  considering  these  navigation  acts 
oppressive,  we  have  the  judgment  of  the  great  ex 
pounder  of  political  economy,  Adam  Smith,  who  in 
his  "  Wealth  of  Nations  "  pronounced  them,  "  a  mani 
fest  violation  of  the  rights  of  mankind  ;  "  and  of 
the  most  profound  statesman  of  his  day,  Edmund 
Burke,  who  said  of  them  in  his  speech  on  American 
taxation,  that  he  thought  the  system,  "  if  uncompen- 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.      53 

sated,  to  be  a  condition  of  as  rigorous  servitude  as 
men  can  be  subject  to." 

The  enactment  of  these  laws  was  without  excuse, 
except  to  gratify  the  avarice  of  British  merchants. 
The  revenue  derived  by  the  state  was  trifling  while 
the  profits  to  the  English  traders  were  enormous.  But 
neither  the  English  Government  nor  the  English  mer 
chants  had  any  just  right  to  profit  at  the  expense 
of  the  colonies.  They  had  been  planted  by  private 
enterprise  and  at  no  cost  to  the  Government,  and  the 
company,  which  at  the  greatest  expense  had  made  the 
first  plantations,  had  been  deprived  of  their  charter 
by  the  King  when  their  venture  had  begun  to  be 
profitable.  Nor  was  the  claim  of  protection  by  the 
mother  country,  as  compensation  for  the  monopoly, 
a  good  one.  The  only  expense  that  was  incurred  in 
protecting  the  colonies  was  in  wars  which  had  been 
begun  in  Europe  and  transferred  to  America.  The 
connection  of  the  colonies  with  England  caused  their 
peril  in  these,  and  they  were  not  justly  chargeable 
by  England  with  the  cost  of  wars,  which  would  not 
have  afflicted  them  had  they  not  belonged  to  her. 

The  only  compensation  which  Burke  could  see  for 
the  hardships  of  the  navigation  acts,  was  in  the  fact 
that  English  capital  was  used  in  fostering  the  in 
dustries  of  the  colonies ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  had  they  been  left  free  to  sell  where  they  could 
sell  highest,  and  buy  where  they  could  buy  lowest, 
they  would  not  only  have  accumulated  capital 
more  rapidly,  but  they  would  have  interested  the 
capital  of  all  nations  in  their  industries. 

Such  obnoxious  laws  were  liable  to  evasion,  but 
so  law-abiding  were  the  colonies,  that  these  evasions 
were  not  believed  by  Burke  to  be  more  frequent 


54  PATRICK  HENRY. 

than  occurred  on  the  coasts  of  England,  in  refer 
ence  to  the  laws  of  trade  with  other  nations. 
They  were  met  by  more  stringent  enactments, 
among  which  was  the  grant  of  general  writs  to 
the  officers  of  customs,  by  which  they  were  author 
ized  to  search  when  and  where  they  pleased.  These 
writs  were  considered  injurious  to  the  rights  of  the 
colonists,  and  their  issue  by  the  court  of  Massachu 
setts  was  resisted  by  James  Otis,  in  February,  1761, 
in  a  speech  of  great  eloquence  and  power,  in  which  he 
argued  that  the  law  was  opposed  to  the  British  Con 
stitution,  and  that  "  an  act  of  Parliament  against  the 
Constitution  is  void."  This  bold  declaration  was 
treasured  by  the  people,  and  inflamed  their  spirit  of 
resentment  against  the  oppressive  law.  But  the 
subservient  court  issued  the  writs,  and  they  w^ere 
submitted  to  by  the  Colony. 

Among  the  imports  were  African  slaves  in  large 
numbers.  This  wicked  traffic  was  the  subject  of 
protest  by  the  colonies,  time  and  again,  and  by  none 
more  strenuously  than  by  Virginia,  which  went  so 
far  as  to  pass  an  act  prohibiting  it.  But  from  the 
days  of  "  Good  Queen  Anne,"  a  large  share  of  the 
enormous  profits  made  by  the  traders  went  into 
the  coffers  of  the  British  sovereigns,  and  the  laws 
interfering  with  the  traffic  were  disapproved  and 
annulled  by  them.1 

In  spite  of  all  restrictions,  the  trade  of  the  colo 
nies  increased  with  their  population,  making  Eng 
land  rich,  and  laying  the  foundation  of  her  commer 
cial  and  maritime  greatness.  Grievous  as  these 
restrictions  were,  the  right  of  Parliament  to  lay 

1  See  Tyler's  Life  of  Chief  Justice  Taney,  Appendix,  for  a  statement 
of  this  interest  of  the  British  sovereigns  in  the  slave  trade. 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES  WITH  ENGLAND.      55 

them  was  not  denied  by  the  colonies,  which  drew 
a  distinction  between  external  and  internal  taxa 
tion.1 

The  assent  of  the  King,  either  in  person  or 
through  the  Governors  acting  under  his  instruc 
tions,  was  necessary  to  give  validity  to  the  laws 
enacted  by  the  colonial  Assemblies,  and  his  dissent 
was  sufficient  to  render  the  acts  null  and  void.  His 
assent  was  often  long  delayed,  and  sometimes  when 
given  the  acts  had  become  useless,  because  the  oc 
casion  of  their  enactment  had  passed  by.  Frequently 
the  acts  most  needed  were  disallowed. 

The  manner  in  which  colonial  affairs  were  consid 
ered  conduced  to  this  criminal  mismanagement.  All 
matters  touching  the  colonies  were  first  considered 
by  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plan 
tations,  who  gave  information  and  advice  concern 
ing  them  to  the  Secretary  of  State  having  them  in 
charge.  This  Board,  called  the  "  Lords  of  Trade," 
had  no  power  to  enforce  their  recommendations,  no 
voice  in  the  Cabinet,  and  no  access  to  the  King. 
Its  very  feebleness  made  it  impatient  of  contradic 
tion,  and  being  constantly  at  variance  with  the  As 
semblies,  it  was  disposed  to  suggest  the  harshest 
measures.  At  more  than  one  period,  the  Lords  of 
Trade  proposed  to  take  away  the  liberal  charters 
under  which  the  colonies  were  planted,  and  reduce 
them  to  subjection  by  destroying  the  independence 
of  their  Assemblies.  In  the  reign  of  James  II., 
whose  tyranny  cost  him  his  throne,  this  scheme  was 
carried  into  effect  in  New  England,  but  the  revolu 
tion  of  1688,  which  seated  William  and  Mary,  re 
stored  to  the  colonies  their  lost  liberties. 

1  Burke's  History  of  Virginia,  iii.,  283-4, 


56  PATRICK   HENRY. 

By  this  great  revolution,  so  memorable  in  the  his 
tory  of  England,  the  power  of  Parliament  was  firmly 
established,  and  as  a  consequence  that  body  has 
since  become  the  ruler  of  the  nation,  and  the  sover 
eign  simply  the  executive  of  its  will.  The  dangers 
which  the  colonies  thereafter  experienced,  were  no 
longer  from  encroachments  on  their  rights  by  the 
throne,  but  by  Parliament. 

The  French  extended  their  forts  from  Canada  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  claiming  the  rich  val 
leys  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  the  country  to 
the  west,  and  exciting  the  Indians  to  hostilities  with 
the  English.  So  detrimental  had  their  conduct  be 
come,  that  the  Lords  of  Trade,  in  1754,  advised  a 
meeting  of  commissioners  from  the  several  colonies 
for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  their  treaties  with 
the  Indians,  and  devising  a  plan  of  union  for  the  de 
fence  of  all  the  colonies,  and  for  the  extension  of  their 
settlements.  This  convention,  representing  seven 
colonies,  met  at  Albany,  June  19,  1754,  and  recom 
mended  a  plan  of  union,  drawn  up  by  Benjamin 
Franklin,  one  of  the  delegates  from  Pennsylvania, 
which  contained  the  germinal  ideas  of  the  American 
Union.  It  provided  for  a  general  government,  to 
be  administered  by  an  executive  appointed  and 
supported  by  the  Crown,  and  a  Grand  Council,  to  be 
composed  of  members  chosen  by  the  colonial  As 
semblies,  with  power  to  make  laws  and  lay  and  levy 
general  duties,  imposts,  and  taxes.  The  plan  was  not 
approved  by  the  colonies,  because  it  contained  too 
much  of  prerogative,  nor  by  the  Lords  of  Trade,  who 
deemed  it  too  democratic.  Another  plan  was  sent 
from  England  for  adoption,  whereby  the  Governors 
of  all  the  colonies,  attended  by  one  or  two  members  of 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.      57 

their  respective  Councils,  were  to  assemble  and  con 
cert  measures  for  the  defence  of  the  whole,  erect 
forts  where  they  judged  proper,  and  raise  what  troops 
they  thought  necessary,  with  power  to  draw  on  the 
Treasury  for  the  sums  that  should  be  wanted,  the 
Treasury  to  be  reimbursed  by  a  tax  laid  on  the  colo 
nies  by  Act  of  Parliament. 

This  plan  was  communicated  to  Franklin  by  Gov 
ernor  Shirley,  of  Massachusetts,  with  the  request 
that  he  give  his  views  upon  its  provisions.  The 
letters  he  sent  in  reply  state  with  great  clearness 
the  relations  of  the  colonies  to  England,  and  the 
right  claimed  by  them  to  be  taxed  only  through 
their  own  Assemblies.1  These  letters  had  the  effect 
of  preventing  the  Governor  from  urging  the  plan  of 
the  Lords  of  Trade. 

The  colonies  adopting  no  plan  of  union  for  de 
fence,  their  protection  devolved  on  England,  whose 
war  with  France  caused  them  to  be  put  in  peril. 
The  terrible  defeat  of  Braddock  caused  England 
to  leave  them  to  their  fate.  But  Franklin,  hav 
ing  been  sent  to  London  in  1757,  as  the  agent  for 
Pennsylvania,  found  that  Pitt  had  been  made  Prime 
Minister,  and  that  the  helm  of  state  was  already  re 
sponding  to  the  hand  of  his  transcendent  genius. 
He  at  once  proposed  to  the  ministry  to  send  another 
army  to  America,  charged  with  the  conquest  of 
Canada  and  the  French  possessions.  He  urged  that 
this  was  the  true  way  to  fight  France,  instead  of 
engaging  her  in  Europe,  because  defeating  her  in 
America  meant  the  acquisition  by  England  of  the 
territory  north  and  west  of  her  colonies.  Pitt  at 
once  acted  on  the  suggestion,  and  the  capture  of 

1  Franklin's  Works,  vol.  iii.,  57-68. 


58  PATRICK  HENRY. 

Quebec  by  Wolfe  and  the  driving  of  the  French 
from  North  America  were  the  result. 

In  after  life  Franklin,  in  relating  the  fate  of  his 
plan  of  union  proposed  at  the  Albany  convention, 
said  :  "  It  would  have  been  happy  for  both  sides  if  it 
had  been  adopted.  The  colonies  so  united  would 
have  been  sufficiently  strong  to  have  defended  them 
selves;  there  would  then  have  been  no  need  of 
troops  from  England.  Of  course,  the  subsequent 
pretext  for  taxing  America  and  the  bloody  contest 
it  occasioned  would  have  been  avoided."  Philoso 
pher  as  he  was,  he  did  not  recognize  the  hand 
of  Providence,  which,  rejecting  his  seemingly  wise 
plan,  brought  on  step  by  step  the  American  Revo 
lution,  and  which  prepared  the  continent  for  the 
future  American  Republic  by  first  giving  so  large 
a  part  of  it  to  the  English,  to  be  wrested  from 
them  by  the  United  States  in  their  War  of  Inde 
pendence. 

By  the  treaty  of  Paris,  in  1763,  her  conquests  in 
America  were  secured  to  England,  and  she  was  left 
in  possession  of  all  North  America,  except  New  Or 
leans,  the  Floridas,  and  Louisiana  west  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  which  were  held  by  Spain.  The  genius  of 
Pitt  had  not  only  extricated  England  from  the  dan 
gers  which  a  series  of  disasters  had  brought  upon  her, 
but  had  added  a  vast  territory  to  her  possessions, 
and  had  advanced  her  to  the  highest  place  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth. 

In  no  part  of  her  dominions  was  there  more  true 
joy  at  the  result  than  in  the  American  colonies. 
James  Otis  gave  expression  to  their  joyful  anticipa 
tions  and  genuine  loyalty,  when,  at  a  Boston  town 
meeting,  he  exclaimed:  "We  in  America  have 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES  WITH  ENGLAND.      £9 

abundant  reason  to  rejoice.  The  heathen  are  driven 
out,  and  the  Canadians  conquered.  The  British  do 
minion  now  extends  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the 
great  rivers  to  the  end  of  the  earth.  Liberty  and 
knowledge,  civil  and  religious,  will  co-extend,  im 
proved  and  preserved,  to  the  latest  posterity."  And 
extolling  the  British  Constitution  and  the  union 
between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies,  he  said, 
"What  God  in  his  providence  has  united,  let  no 
man  dare  attempt  to  pull  asunder." 

But  these  bright  anticipations  of  a  happy  future 
were  soon  turned  into  the  gloomiest  forebodings. 
In  1763,  Parliament  renewed  the  tax  on  sugar  and 
molasses  imported  into  the  colonies,  and  steps  were 
taken  for  the  rigid  enforcement  of  this  and  the  navi 
gation  acts.  All  officers,  civil,  military,  and  naval, 
were  constituted  Custom  House  officials,  and  re 
quired  to  break  up  all  illicit  traffic  by  seizures,  to  be 
carried  before  courts  of  admiralty  presided  over  by 
appointees  of  the  Crown,  in  which  trials  by  jury 
were  not  allowed.  Large  emoluments  in  cases  of 
forfeiture  were  given  to  the  officers  making  the  seiz 
ures.  Of  course  their  proceedings  became  oppres 
sive  in  the  highest  degree,  and  the  more  so  as  practi 
cally  there  was  no  appeal,  so  great  was  the  cost  and 
difficulty  of  obtaining  a  hearing  before  the  Privy 
Council  in  England. 

Soon  the  colonies  were  informed  by  their  agents 
that  the  ministry  of  the  young  King,  George  III., 
from  which  Pitt  had  been  driven,  designed  to  alter 
the  colonial  charters  so  as  to  destroy  the  influence  of 
their  Assemblies,  to  quarter  a  standing  army  in  their 
midst,  and  to  impose  a  tax  on  the  colonies  with 
which  that  army  should  be  supported,  and  a  revenue 


60  PATRICK   HENRY. 

be  derived  to  England,  burdened  with  an  enormous 
debt  by  her  late  wars. 

George  Grenville,  succeeding  the  Earl  of  Bute  in 
the  Ministry,  abandoned  the  scheme  of  changing  the 
charters,  but  informed  the  colonial  agents  that  it  was 
fully  determined  to  impose  a  tax,  and  that  a  stamp 
tax  had  been  determined  on,  unless  the  colonies 
would  suggest  one  equally  efficient ;  and  in  order 
that  they  might  have  an  opportunity  of  doing  so, 
the  tax  would  not  be  pressed  until  the  next  session 
of  Parliament.  Accordingly,  on  March  9,  1764,  he 
read  in  the  House  of  Commons  resolutions  declara 
tory  of  this  purpose,  the  execution  of  which  he  asked 
might  be  deferred  until  the  colonies  could  be  heard 
from.  These  resolutions  were  agreed  to  on  the  1 7th 
of  the  month  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  and  were 
heartily  approved  by  the  King,  who,  in  proroguing 
Parliament  on  April  19,  spoke  of  "  the  wise  regu 
lations  which  had  been  established  to  augment  the 
public  revenues,  to  unite  the  interests  of  the  most 
distant  possessions  of  the  Crown,  and  to  encourage 
and  secure  their  commerce  with  Great  Britain." 
How  little  he  dreamed  of  the  stupendous  folly  of 
the  proposed  legislation  ! 

The  Declaratory  Resolves  caused  the  greatest  sen 
sation  throughout  America.  Men  everywhere  en 
tered  upon  the  discussion  of  the  constitutional  and 
chartered  rights  of  the  colonies,  and  as  the  discussion 
progressed  in  the  press,  in  public  meetings,  and  in 
legislative  assemblies,  parties  were  formed.  The  op 
ponents  of  the  tax  were  called  "  Whigs,"  and  "  Pat 
riots,"  and  the  supporters  of  the  administration  were 
called  "  Loyalists,"  "  Tories,"  and  "  Friends  of  Gov 
ernment." 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES   WITH   ENGLAND.      61 

The  first  public  meeting  in  which  opposition  to 
the  proposed  tax  was  indicated,  assembled  in  Fan- 
euil  Hall,  in  the  town  of  Boston,  on  May  24,  1764. 
This  meeting  instructed  their  representatives  in  the 
Assembly,  in  a  paper  prepared  by  Samuel  Adams,  to 
oppose  the  proposed  tax  as  subversive  of  their  rights, 
and  directed  that  an  effort  be  made  to  engage  the 
other  colonies  in  a  united  protest  against  it.  The 
General  Court,  as  the  Assembly  was  styled,  met  six 
days  afterward,  and  James  Otis,  a  member  from 
Boston,  was  the  leading  spirit.  By  his  influence  its 
action  was  cast  in  the  mould  of  these  instructions. 

Almost  all  of  the  colonies,  through  their  Assem 
blies,  protested  in  earnest  and  able  papers  against 
the  proposed  tax.  The  Virginia  Assembly  met  in 
November,  1764.  On  December  18  a  committee 
reported  an  address  to  the  King,  a  memorial  to  the 
House  of  Lords,  and  a  remonstrance  to  the  House  of 
Commons.  The  first  and  second  of  these  papers 
were  drawn  by  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  the  third 
by  George  Wythe.  For  ability  and  spirit  in  pre 
senting  the  cause  of  the  colonies,  they  compare  fa 
vorably  with  any  sent  to  England.1  Yet  they  evi 
dently  anticipated  no  opposition  beyond  remon 
strance,  and  this  may  be  said  of  all  the  papers  sent 
from  the  other  colonies. 

The  British  Ministry  had  only  asked  the  colonies 
to  indicate  the  tax  most  acceptable  to  them,  not  to 
furnish  reasons  why  they  should  not  be  taxed.  A 
tax  had  been  determined  on,  and  the  protest  of  the 
colonies  against  the  right  to  levy  it,  only  made  them 
the  more  determined  to  establish  the  right  by  ex 
ercising  it.  On  February  6,  1765,  Grenville  pro- 

1  See  them  in  Wirt's  Henry,  Appendix. 


62  PATRICK   HENRY. 

posed  to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  of  the 
whole  House  fifty-five  resolutions,  embracing  the 
details  of  a  Stamp  Act  for  America,  and  making  all 
offences  against  it  cognizable  in  Courts  of  Admi 
ralty.  In  his  speech  he  urged  that  the  right  of  the 
colonies  to  protection  at  the  hands  of  Parliament, 
gave  Parliament  the  right  to  enforce  a  revenue  from 
them ;  that  protection  meant  an  army,  and  an  army 
must  be  paid,  and  this  required  the  levy  of  taxes  ; 
that  the  debt  of  England  was  one  hundred  and  forty 
millions  sterling,  while  America  only  owed  eight 
hundred  thousand  pounds,  and  paid  only  seventy- 
five  thousand  pounds  annually  for  the  support  of 
its  government.  He  claimed  that  their  charters  in 
terposed  no  obstacle  to  a  parliamentary  tax,  and  if 
they  did,  they  were  subject  to  the  control  of  Parlia 
ment  and  could  be  altered ;  and  finally  he  claimed 
that  the  colonies  were  constructively  represented  in 
Parliament,  which  was  the  common  council  of  the 
whole  empire,  and  could  legislate  for  all  parts  in  all 
matters. 

The  motion  was  opposed  by  Alderman  Beckford, 
Richard  Jackson,  Colonel  Isaac  Barre,  and  General 
H.  S.  Conway,  the  last  two  of  whom  had  been  dis 
missed  from  the  army  because  of  their  independent 
course  in  Parliament.  Colonel  Barre  had  accom 
panied  the  gallant  Wolfe  in  his  American  campaign, 
and  knew  personally  the  American  character  and 
the  grievances  of  the  colonies.  His  reply  to  Charles 
Townshend's  attack  on  the  colonists  made  him  fa 
mous.  In  it  he  called  the  Americans  Sons  of  Lib 
erty,  and  on  the  report  of  his  speech  the  party  of 
the  "Patriots"  added  these  words  to  their  name. 
In  this  debate  only  Beckford  and  Conway  questioned 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES   WITH  ENGLAND.      63 

the  power  of  Parliament  to  impose  the  tax.  Pitt 
was  not  in  his  seat.  In  his  speech  urging  the  repeal 
of  the  act,  delivered  in  January,  1766,  he  said  : 
"  When  the  resolution  was  taken  in  the  House  to 
tax  America  I  was  ill  in  Bed.  If  I  could  have  en 
dured  to  have  been  carried  in  my  bed,  so  great  was 
the  agitation  of  my  mind  for  the  consequences,  I 
would  have  solicited  some  kind  hand  to  have  laid 
me  down  on  this  floor  to  have  borne  my  testimony 
against  it." 

On  February  27,  1765,  the  Stamp  Act  passed  the 
House  of  Commons,  which  refused  even  to  allow  the 
protests  of  the  colonies  to  be  read.  On  March  8, 
it  was  agreed  to  by  the  Lords,  without  division  or 
debate.  On  March  22,'  the  royal  assent  was  given 
by  a  commission,  the  King  having  become  insane.1 

In  passing  the  Act  Parliament  reflected  the  will 
of  its  constituents.  Dr.  Franklin,  after  doing  all 
in  his  power  to  prevent  its  passage,  wrote  :  "  The 
tide  was  too  strong  against  us.  The  nation  was  pro 
voked  by  American  claims  of  independence  (of  the 
power  of  Parliament),  and  all  parties  joined  by  re 
solving  in  this  Act  to  settle  the  point.  We  might  as 
well  have  hindered  the  sun's  setting." 

The  Act  was  to  go  into  operation  on  November  1, 
1765,  and  was  so  contrived  as  to  enforce  itself. 
Unless  stamps  were  used  marriages  would  be  null, 
obligations  valueless,  ships  at  sea  prizes  to  the  first 
captor,  alienations  of  real  estate  invalid,  inheritances 
irreclaimable,  legal  proceedings  impossible. 

It  was  not  doubted  in  England  or  America  that 


1 A  concise  statement  of  the  conduct  of  England  toward  the  colonies, 
with  a  full  list  of  authorities,  will  be  found  in  Winsor's  Narrative  and 
Critical  History  of  America,  vi.,  chap.  1. 


64  PATRICK   HENRY. 

the  Act  would  be  enforced.  James  Otis  had  said  in 
1764,  "It  is  our  duty  to  submit."  1  The  legislature 
of  Massachusetts  had  said,  "  We  yield  obedience 
to  the  Act  granting  duties."  2  When  the  Act  was 
first  proposed  the  agents'  of  the  colonies  showed  no 
disposition  to  oppose  it,3  and  in  no  colony  had  the 
ground  been  taken  that  the  tax,  if  imposed,  should 
be  resisted. 

Grenville  expected,  however,  that  the  submission 
would  be  by  men  smarting  under  a  feeling  of  wrong, 
and  to  avoid  all  unnecessary  irritation  he  determined 
to  select  only  Americans,  and  those  of  character  and 
influence,  to  act  as  stamp  distributors.  He  requested 
the  colonial  agents  to  select  his  appointees,  and  they 
complied  with  his  request,  Dr.  Franklin  naming 
John  Hughes  for  Pennsylvania.4 

The  intelligence  of  the  passage  of  the  Act  caused 
the  deepest  despondency  among  the  patriots  of 
America.  They  had  trusted  that  their  earnest  pro 
test  would  cause  it  to  be  abandoned,  but  now  that 
they  realized  the  fact  that  the  tax  was  imposed, 
and  saw  no  way  to  escape  it,  they  felt  that  a  great 
political  right,  the  corner-stone  of  English  liberty, 
was  about  to  be  wrested  from  them  forever.  Resist 
ance  to  the  British  authority  was  not  proposed  by 
the  patriot  leaders,  and  submission  to  the  tax  was 
the  only  alternative.  In  all  the  colonies  unmis 
takable  signs  were  given  of  submission  to  the  will 
of  Parliament,  but  by  a  people  greatly  dissatis 
fied. 

1  Rights  of  the  Colonies,  p.  40. 

2  Answer  of  Council  and  House,  November  3,  1764. 

3  Bancroft's  United  States,  v.,  p.  180,  ed.  1857. 

4  Franklin  to  Dean  Tucker.     Works  of  Franklin,  Sparks's  edition,  iv., 
522. 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES   WITH  ENGLAND.      65 

The  leading  spirit  in  New  England,  James  Otis, 
repelled  the  idea  that  there  would  be  any  resistance. 
He  said  :  "  It  is  the  duty  of  all  humbly,  and  silently, 
to  acquiesce  in  all  the  decisions  of  the  supreme  legis 
lature.  Nine  hundred  and  ninety -nine  in  a  thousand 
of  the  colonists  will  never  once  entertain  a  thought 
but  of  submission  to  our  Sovereign,  and  to  the  au 
thority  of  Parliament  in  all  possible  contingencies. 
They  undoubtedly  have  the  right  to  levy  internal 
taxes  on  the  colonies." 1  With  a  knowledge  of  his  sen 
timents  the  town  of  Boston  re-elected  him  to  the 
Assembly  in  May,  and  that  body  re-elected  Thomas 
Oliver  as  Councillor,  although  he  had  been  appoint 
ed  a  stamp  distributor.  On  June  6  Otis  prevailed 
on  the  body  to  propose  to  the  colonies  a  congress, 
to  meet  in  New  York  in  October,  "  to  consult  to 
gether  on  the  present  circumstances  of  the  colonies, 
and  the  difficulties  to  which  they  are  and  must  be 
reduced,  by  the  operation  of  the  Acts  of  Parliament 
for  levying  duties  and  taxes  on  the  colonies ;  and  to 
consider  of  a  general  and  united,  dutiful,  loyal,  and 
humble  representation  of  their  condition  to  his 
Majesty,  and  to  the  Parliament,  and  to  implore  re 
lief."  This,  the  only  action  taken  by  the  Massachu 
setts  legislature,  was  aided  by  the  royal  Governor, 
Bernard,  who  thus  gained  control  of  the  movement, 
and  managed  to  have  two  "government  men," 
Oliver  Partridge  and  Timothy  Ruggles,  associated 
with  Otis  on  the  delegation  from  that  colony.2  It 
is  apparent,  both  from  the  expressed  object  of  the 
call,  and  from  the  time  fixed  for  the  meeting  of  the 
convention,  that  it  was  expected  that  the  act  would 

1  Bancroft,  v.,  271. 

2  Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  vol.  i. ,  p.  120, 


66  PATRICK   HENRY. 

go  into  operation  before  the  result  of  its  "  humble 
representation  "  could  be  heard — indeed  before  it 
could  reach  England.      Hutchinson,  the  Chief  Jus 
tice  of  the  colony,  wrote  to  the  ministry  five  weeks 
after  news  of  its  passage :  "  The  Stamp  Act  is  re 
ceived  among  us  with  as  much  decency  as  could  be 
expected ;  it  leaves  no  room  for_eyasion,  and  will  exe 
cute  itself."  1     So  little  did  the  legislature  of  New 
Hampshire  care  for  the  Act,  that  it  adjourned  with 
out  even  accepting  the  invitation  of  Massachusetts.2- 
The  colony  of  Rhode  Island  appeared  ready  to  sub 
mit  to  Parliament,3  as  did  Connecticut.4     From  New 
York    Lieutenant- Governor    Colden    wrote  to   the 
Ministry  that  the  passage  of  the  Act  caused  no  dis 
turbance  in  that  colony.5     The  legislature  of  New 
Jersey  declined  the  invitation  of  Massachusetts  to 
meet  in  a  convention.6     The  legislature  of  Pennsyl 
vania  was  in  session  when  intelligence  of  the  pas 
sage  of  the  Act  was  received  at  Philadelphia,  but  it 
adjourned  without  taking  notice  of  it.7     The  legis 
lature  of  Delaware  had  no  opportunity  of  taking 
action   before  the   congress  met  in  New  York,  on 
October  7,  but  no  signs  of  resistance  to  the  execu 
tion  of  the  Act  appeared  in  that  colony.     The  Gov 
ernor  of  Maryland  reported  that  the  Act  would  be 
carried  into  execution.8   In  North  Carolina  the  legis 
lature,  so  far  from  resenting  the  passage  of  the  Act, 
took  steps,   at  the  instance  of  Governor  Tryon,  to 
support  the  Church  of  England  by  a  general  tax, 
although  many  of  the  inhabitants  were  Dissenters.9 

1  Bancroft,  United  States,  v.,  272,  2  Id.,  293. 

s  Gordon,  vol.  i.,  119.  4  Id.,  117. 

6  Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  vii,,  710. 

6  Bancroft,  v.,  292.  7  Gordon's  History  of  Pennsylvania,  p.  438. 

8  Bancroft,  v.,  293.  9  Id.,  271. 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.      67 

The  legislature  of  South  Carolina  did  not  meet  till 
July,  and  no  sign  of  resistance  was  seen  in  that 
colony.  Her  legislature,  however,  was  the  first  to 
respond  favorably  to  the  call  of  Massachusetts.1 
In  Georgia  the  Act  was  deemed  an  equal  mode  of 
taxation,  and  it  had  been  defended  by  Knox,  the 
agent  of  the  colony.2  In  Virginia  the  people  pre 
pared  themselves  to  submit,  but  with  despondent 
feelings.  They  determined,  by  frugality,  and  ban 
ishing  articles  of  luxury  of  English  manufacture,  to 
cause  the  Act  to  recoil  on  England.  The  House  of 
Burgesses  reassembled  on  May  1,  but  none  of  the 
members  proposed  any  measure  of  resistance,  or 
even  of  further  protest.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  so 
active  at  the  preceding  session  in  protesting  against 
the  passage  of  the  Act,  did  not  attend  the  meeting.3 
A  majority  of  the  Governors  wrote  to  the  Ministry 
that  the  Act  would  be  enforced,  and  this  was  the 
belief  of  the  gentlemen  who  accepted  the  office  of 
stamp  distributors.4 

Thus  the  execution  of  the  Act  seemed  inevitable, 
and,  once  submitted  to,  the  claim  of  Parliament  to 
tax  the  colonies  would  have  been  firmly  established, 
and  the  colonies  enslaved.  Burke  described  their 
condition,  subjected  to  such  a  power,  when  he  after 
ward  asked  the  Ministry,5  "  What  one  characteristic 
of  liberty  the  Americans  have,  and  what  one  brand  of 
slavery  are  they  free  from,  if  they  are  bound  in  their 
property  and  industry  by  all  the  restraints  you 
can  imagine  on  commerce,  and  at  the  same  time  are 
made  pack-horses  of  every  tax  you  choose  to  impose, 

1  Bancroft,  v.,  294.  2  Id.,  155  and  272. 

3  The  Journal  does  not  show  his  presence, 

4  Parliamentary  History,  vol.  16,  p.  191. 

5  Speech  on  American  Taxation. 


68  PATRICK  HENRY. 

without  the  least  share  in  granting  them  ?  "  And 
Bacon  had  said  before  him :  "  The  blessings  of 
Judah  and  Issachar  will  never  meet,  that  the  same 
people  or  nation  should  be  both  the  lion's  whelp 
and  the  ass  between  two  burdens  ;  neither  will  it  be 
that  a  people  overlaid  with  taxes  should  ever  be 
come  valiant  and  martial.  It  is  true  that  taxes 
levied  by  consent  of  the  state  do  abate  men's  cour 
age  less,  as  it  hath  been  seen  notably  in  the  excise 
of  the  Low  Countries,  and  in  the  subsidies  of  Eng 
land,  for  you  must  note  that  we  speak  now  of  the 
heart  and  not  of  the  purse ;  so  that  although  the 
same  tribute  or  tax  laid  by  consent  or  by  impos 
ing  be  all  one  to  the  purse,  yet  it  works  diversely 
upon  the  courage,  so  that  you  may  conclude  that 
no  people  overcharged  with  tribute  is  fit  for  em 
pire."  * 

The  inevitable  effect  of  once  submitting  to  the 
Act  was  fully  appreciated  by  the  patriots,  and 
John  Adams  expressed  their  conviction  when  he 
entered  in  his  diary,  on  December  18,  1765,  "  If 
this  authority  is  once  acknowledged  and  estab 
lished,  the  ruin  of  America  will  become  inevit 
able." 

The  great  mass  of  the  people  were  thoroughly 
convinced  that  the  Act  was  in  violation  of  their 
rights,  and  an  unjustifiable  wrong  inflicted  on  them, 
but  no  one  stood  forth  around  whom  they  could 
rally  in  opposing  its  execution.  All  the  leaders  to 
whom  they  had  been  accustomed  to  look,  failed 
them  in  this  their  hour  of  extreme  peril.  But, 
as  so  often  has  happened  in  great  crises,  the  rul 
er  of  human  affairs  had  trained,  and  now  brought 

1  Bacon  on  the  True  Greatness  of  Kingdoms. 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES  WITH  ENGLAND.      69 

forward,  one  in  every  way  equal  to  the  occasion 
— a  man  of  the  people,  thoroughly  identified  with 
them,  and  fitted,  by  native  genius  and  by  undaunted 
courage,  to  inspire  them  with  the  high  resolve,  to 
stake  all  on  the  preservation  of  the  great  principle 
of  representative  government. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ENTRANCE    ON  PUBLIC   LIFE— RESOLUTIONS   AGAINST 
STAMP  ACT— 1765. 

Election  of  Mr.  Henry  to  the  House  of  Burgesses. — Character  of 
the  House. — Lower  Counties  and  Upper  Counties. — Character 
istics  of  the  People. — Proposition  to  make  a  Public  Loan  to 
Believe  Individual  Embarrassment. — Eloquent  Speech  of  Mr. 
Henry  in  Opposition. — Besolutions  against  the  Stamp  Act  In 
troduced  by  Mr.  Henry,  May  29,  1765,  and  Carried  against  the 
Opposition  of  the  Old  Leaders. — Mr.  Jefferson's  Account  of  the 
Debate. — Accounts  of  Governor  Fauquier  and  Bev.  William 
Bobinson. — Contemporaneous  Evidence  Concerning  the  Num 
ber  of  Besolutions  Offered  and  Passed. — Leadership  of  the  Col 
ony  accorded  Mr.  Henry  as  a  Consequence  of  his  Action. — Effect 
of  his  Besolves  on  the  Colonies. — Besistance  to  the  Execution 
of  the  Act.— Stamp  Act  Congress.— Mr.  Henry's  Fame.— He 
Gave  the  Initial  Impulse  to  the  Bevolution. 

IT  was  at  this  critical  period  that  Patrick  Henry 
entered  upon  public  life.  On  the  first  day  of  its 
session  the  House  of  Burgesses  took  steps  to  fill 
several  vacancies  which  had  occurred  during  the  re 
cess.  One  of  these  was  from  the  county  of  Louisa, 
whose  delegate,  William  Johnson,  had  accepted  the 
office  of  Coroner.  Mr.  Henry,  though  not  a  resident 
of  that  county,  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy,1  his 
name  being  brought  forward  by  William  Venable, 
a  prominent  citizen.  It  has  been  said  that  the  va 
cancy  was  made  in  order  that  Mr.  Henry  might  be 
come  a  member  of  the  House,  and  exert  himself 

1  A  bond  executed  in  August,  1765,  describes  him  as  a  resident  of  Han 
over  County. 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC   LIFE.  71 

against  the  Stamp  Act.  But  there  seems  to  be  no 
ground  for  this  assertion,  as  Mr.  Johnson  accepted 
the  office  of  Coroner,  which  required  the  resignation 
of  his  seat,  before  information  was  received  of  the 
passage  of  the  Act.1  The  happening  of  the  vacancy 
at  this  time,  and  the  election  of  Mr.  Henry  to  fill  it, 
must  be  considered  events  of  that  kind  styled  by 
some,  accidental,  but  by  the  more  thoughtful,  prov 
idential.  Certainly  no  event  seemingly  so  unimpor 
tant  as  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Johnson,  ever  pro 
duced  more  important  results. 

Mr.  Henry  took  his  seat  May  20,  and  was  at  once 
placed  on  the  Committee  of  Courts  of  Justice.  He 
entered  a  body  of  intellectual  and  patriotic  men, 
whose  proceedings  were  conducted  with  the  utmost 
decorum,  and  whose  leaders  were  possessed  of  ability, 
of  culture,  and  of  deserved  influence.2 

John  Robinson,  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  had  filled 
the  chair  for  twenty-five  years  with  great  dignity.  He 
was  possessed  of  a  strong  mind,  which  was  enlarged 
by  great  experience,  and  of  a  benevolence  of  spirit  and 
courtesy  of  manner  which  rendered  him  exceedingly 
popular.  He  was  wealthy,  and  was  the  acknowl 
edged  head  of  the  landed  aristocracy.  As  Speaker 
of  the  House  he  was  also  Treasurer  of  the  colony, 
and  was  altogether  the  most  influential  member  of 
the  body.  The  high  offices  he  held  caused  him  to 
be  warmly  attached  to  the  royal  government,  and  he 
was  very  averse  to  taking  any  step  which  would  be 
censured  by  the  Ministry. 

Peyton  Randolph,  the  Attorney-General,  held  the 
next  rank  to  the  Speaker.  He  was  an  eminent  law- 

1  This  information  was  not  received  till  after  the  House  met. 

2  See  Appendix  II.  for  a  list  of  the  members. 


72  PATRICK   HENRY. 

yer,  an  accomplished  parliamentarian,  and  a  practi 
cal  statesman  of  a  high  order.  He  presided  over  the 
House  when  it  sat  in  committee  of  the  whole. 

Edmund  Pendleton  was  justly  ranked  as  one  of 
the  ablest  men  in  the  House.  Mr.  Jefferson  has 
said  of  him,  "  Taken  all  in  all,  he  was  the  ablest  man 
in  debate  I  ever  met ;  he  was  cool,  smooth,  and  per 
suasive;  his  language  flowing,  chaste,  and  embel 
lished  ;  his  conceptions  quick,  acute,  and  full  of  re 
source  ;  add  to  this  that  he  was  one  of  the  most 
virtuous  and  benevolent  of  men,  the  kindest  friend, 
the  most  amiable  and  pleasant  of  companions." 

George  Wythe  is  described  by  Mr.  Jefferson  as 
the  best  Latin  and  Greek  scholar  in  the  colony,  and  of 
such  purity  and  inflexible  integrity,  of  such  warm 
patriotism  and  devotion  to  liberty,  that  he  might 
have  been  called  the  Cato  of  his  country,  without 
the  avarice  of  the  Roman.  His  elocution  was  easy 
and  his  language  chaste.  He  was  methodical  in  the 
arrangement  of  his  matter,  learned  and  logical  in 
the  use  of  it,  and  of  great  urbanity  in  debate ;  not 
quick  of  apprehension,  but  profound  in  penetration, 
and  sound  in  conclusion. 

Richard  Bland  is  described  by  the  same  pen,  as 
the  most  learned  and  logical  man  of  those  who  took 
a  prominent  lead  in  public  affairs  ;  profound  in  con 
stitutional  lore,  but  a  most  ungraceful  speaker  in 
debate.  He  wrote  the  first  pamphlet  on  the  nature 
of  the  colonial  connection  with  Great  Britain,  which 
had  any  pretension  to  accuracy  of  view  on  that  sub 
ject.  Edmund  Randolph  states,  that  his  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  colony  had  given 
him  the  name  of  the  "  Virginian  Antiquarian." 

Richard  Henry  Lee  was  already  distinguished  for 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC   LIFE.  73 

that  learning,  and  those  great  gifts  of  tongue  and 
pen,  which  won  for  him  the  title  of  the  "  Cicero  of 
America." 

George  Washington,  modest  and  retiring  as  a 
member,  was  the  beau  ideal  of  a  soldier,  and  was 
already  noted  for  that  strong  common  sense  and  per 
fectly  balanced  character,  which  have  won  the  ad 
miration  of  the  world.  He  at  once  became  Mr. 
Henry's  friend. 

Eobert  Carter  Nicholas,  of  singular  purity  of 
character  and  strength  of  intellect,  was  the  leading 
lawyer  of  the  colony. 

Besides  these  may  be  named  among  those  who 
deservedly  rose  to  high  position,  and  were  already 
men  of  influence,  Paul  Carrington,  Benjamin  Harri 
son,  William  Cabell,  Archibald  Cary,  Thomas  Mar 
shall,  John  Page,  Carter  Braxton,  Francis  Lightfoot 
Lee,  Thompson  Mason,  Dudley  Digges,  and  the  ac 
complished  John  Blair  of  the  College.  The  list 
shows  other  names  of  equal  merit  and  intelligence 
which  will  be  recognized  by  the  reader. 

History  does  not  tell  us  of  a  State  of  the  same 
size  as  Virginia  which  could,  at  any  one  period,  fur 
nish  such  a  galaxy  of  great  names  as  is  found  on 
the  roll  of  this  House  ;  and  one  is  forced  to  admire 
the  elements  of  Virginia  society,  which  united  to 
bring  upon  the  stage  of  action  at  one  time  such  a 
superb  body  of  men. 

If  there  were  parties  in  the  House  they  were 
best  divided  by  a  geographical  line,  which  would 
separate  the  old  counties  on  tide-water,  from  the 
newer  and  more  western,  known  as  "  upper  coun 
ties."  Of  the  fifty-six  counties  on  the  roll  of  the 
House  thirty-five  were  on  tide-water,  or  in  that  sec- 


74  PATRICK   HENRY. 

tion.1  The  rest  were  in  the  piedmont  and  mountain 
ous  regions. 

But  this  division  would  have  been  made  not  be 
cause  of  the  geographical  line,  but  of  the  difference 
in  the  population  on  either  side  of  it.  The  counties 
on  tide-water,  first  settled,  contained  a  population 
almost  purely  English,  an  admixture  of  the  cavalier 
and  puritan  elements,  and  showing  some  of  the  best 
characteristics  of  both.  Many  younger  sons  of 
wealthy  or  noble  families,  many  of  the  yeomanry, 
and  many  of  the  merchant  class  of  England  were 
found  among  them.  Entailed  estates,  and  large 
property  in  slaves,  had  developed  a  decided  aris 
tocracy,  which  vied  with  the  vice-regal  court  of 
the  Governor  at  Williamsburg  in  their  manner  of 
living.  They  prided  themselves  on  being  loyal  to 
the  King  and  the  Established  Church. 

Far  different  were  the  people  who  settled  to  the 
westward,  and  who,  or  whose  immediate  ancestors, 
had  to  subdue  the  forest  and  its  savage  inhabitants. 
While  these  were  largely  English  also,  with  some 
admixture  of  French  Huguenot,  Scotch,  and  Ger 
man,  as  was  also  the  case  in  tide-water  Virginia, 
there  was  also  found  a  large,  and  in  some  counties 
a  controlling  element,  of  Scotch-Irish.  This  was 
notably  so  in  the  valley  counties. 

The  Scotch  who  settled  the  north  of  Ireland  dur 
ing  the  first  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century,  be 
came  restless  under  the  persecutions  to  which  they 
were  subjected  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  emi 
grated  to  America  in  great  numbers  during  the 
eighteenth  century.  In  1738,  they  applied  to  Gov 
ernor  Gooch  for  permission  to  settle  in  the  valley  of 

1  Jefferson's  Notes  on  Virginia,  152. 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC   LIFE.  75 

Virginia,  promising  to  hold  the  western  frontier 
against  the  Indians,  and  imposing  but  one  condition, 
"  that  they  be  allowed  the  liberty  of  their  consciences, 
and  of  worshipping  God  in  a  way  agreeable  to  the 
principles  of  their  education."  The  Governor  re 
turned  a  gracious  answer,  and  soon  the  valley  of 
Virginia,  from  Pennsylvania  to  the  North  Carolina 
line,  was  filled  with  this  hardy  race,  which  over 
flowed  the  mountains  and  gave  tone  and  character 
to  the  piedmont  counties. 

This  people,  which  has  so  largely  controlled  the 
history  of  Virginia,  retained  in  a  remarkable  degree 
the  characteristics  which  distinguished  them  in  the 
old  world.  They  were  Presbyterians  in  their  re 
ligion  and  church  government,  were  loyal  to  the 
conceded  authority  of  the  king,  but  held  him  to  be 
bound,  as  well  as  themselves,  by  "  the  solemn 
League  and  Covenant,"  made  in  1643,  by  which  the 
throne  was  pledged  to  the  support  of  the  reforma 
tion,  and  of  the  liberties  of  the  kingdoms ;  they 
claimed  the  rights  of  a  free  church  ;  they  practised 
strict  discipline  in  morals,  and  rigidly  trained  their 
youth  in  secular  and  religious  learning ;  and  as  a  race 
they  combined,  as  perhaps  no  other  did,  acuteness 
of  intellect,  firmness  of  purpose,  and  conscientious 
devotion  to  duty.  Trained  to  arms  by  their  contin 
uous  contact  with  the  treacherous  savage,  they  be 
came  a  race  of  soldiers,  distinguished  in  every  war  in 
which  Virginia  had  been  engaged.  As  the  vast  ter 
ritory  was  divided  into  new  counties,  this  popula 
tion  began  to  exercise  influence  in  the  councils  of 
the  State.  Upon  all  questions  involving  the  exer 
cise  of  arbitrary  powers  they  were  a  united  band, 
withstanding  the  tendency  of  the  cavaliers  to  bow 


76  PATRICK   HENRY. 

to  royal  authority,  and  maintaining  their  rights  with 
the  spirit  of  John  Knox. 

Mr.  Henry  had  not  been  in  his  seat  three  days 
before  he  was  called  to  his  feet,  by  a  proposition 
that  the  colony  borrow  £240,000,  to  be  secured  and 
met  by  a  tax  on  tobacco,  of  which  £100,000  was  to 
be  used  to  redeem  the  current  paper  money,  issued 
to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  late  war,  and  £140,000 
in  loans  on  permanent  security.  Mr.  Jefferson,  who 
heard  the  debate,  has  left  the  following  account  of 
the  matter : 

"  The  gentlemen  of  this  country  had,  at  that  time, 
become  deeply  involved  in  that  state  of  indebtment 
which  has  since  ended  in  so  general  a  crush  of  their 
fortunes.  Mr.  Robinson,  the  Speaker,  was  also  the 
Treasurer,  an  officer  always  chosen  by  the  Assembly. 
He  was  an  excellent  man,  liberal,  friendly,  and  rich. 
He  had  been  drawn  in  to  lend,  on  his  own  account, 
great  sums  of  money  to  persons  of  this  description  ; 
and  especially  those  who  were  of  the  assembly.  He 
used  freely  for  this  purpose  the  public  money,  con 
fiding  for  its  replacement  in  his  own  means,  and  the 
securities  he  had  taken  on  those  loans.  About  this 
time,  however,  he  became  sensible  that  his  deficit  to 
the  public  was  become  so  enormous,  as  that  a  dis 
covery  must  soon  take  place,  for  as  yet  the  public 
had  no  suspicion  of  it.  He  devised  therefore,  with 
his  friends  in  the  assembly,  a  plan  for  a  public  loan 
office,  to  a  certain  amount,  from  which  money  might 
be  lent  on  public  account,  and  on  good  landed  secur 
ity,  to  individuals.  I  find  in  Royle's  Virginia 
Gazette  of  May  17,  1765,  this  proposition  for  a  loan 
office  presented,  its  advantages  detailed,  and  the 
plan  explained.  It  seems  to  have  been  done  by  a 
borrowing  member,  from  the  feeling  with  which  the 
motives  are  expressed,  and  to  have  been  preparatory 


ENTRANCE   ON   PUBLIC  LIFE.  77 

to  the  intended  motion.  The  motion  for  a  loan 
office  was  accordingly  brought  forward  in  the  House 
of  Burgesses,  and  had  it  succeeded,  the  debts  due 
to  Robinson  on  these  loans  would  have  been  trans 
ferred  to  the  public,  and  his  deficit  thus  completely 
covered.  This  state  of  things,  however,  was  not  yet 
known  :  but  Mr.  Henry  attacked  the  scheme  on 
other  general  grounds,  in  that  style  of  bold,  grand, 
and  overwhelming  eloquence,  for  which  he  became 
so  justly  celebrated  afterward.  I  had  been  intimate 
with  him  from  the  year  1759-60,  and  felt  an 
interest  in  what  concerned  him ;  and  I  can  never 
forget  a  particular  exclamation  of  his  in  the  debate, 
which  electrified  his  hearers.  It  had  been  urged, 
that,  from  certain  unhappy  circumstances  of  the 
colony,  men  of  substantial  property  had  contracted 
debts,  which,  if  exacted  suddenly,  must  ruin  them 
and  their  families,  but  with  a  little  indulgence  of 
time,  might  be  paid  with  ease.  'What  sir,'  ex 
claimed  Mr.  Henry,  in  animadverting  on  this,  i  is  it 
proposed,  then,  to  reclaim  the  spendthrift  from  his 
dissipation  and  extravagance,  by  filling  his  pockets 
with  money  ? '  These  expressions  are  indelibly  im 
pressed  on  my  memory.  He  laid  open  with  so 
much  energy  the  spirit  of  favoritism,  on  which  the 
proposition  was  founded,  and  the  abuses  to  which  it 
would  lead,  that  it  was  crushed  in  its  birth.  He 
carried  with  him  all  the  members  of  the  upper 
counties,  and  left  a  minority  composed  merely  of  the 
aristocracy  of  the  country.  From  this  time  his 
popularity  swelled  apace;  and  Mr.  Eobinson  dying 
the  year  afterward,  his  deficit  was  brought  to  light, 
and  discovered  the  true  object  of  the  proposition."  l 

Mr.  Jefferson's  memory  was  at  fault  in  the  state 
ment  that  the  proposition  was  defeated  in  the  House. 

1  Wirt's  Henry,  69-71. 


78  PATRICK   HENRY. 

The  Journal  shows  that  it  passed  the  House,  and  was 
disapproved  by  the  Council,  after  a  conference  with 
a  committee  of  the  House,  consisting  of  Edmund 
Pendleton,  Archibald  Gary,  Benjamin  Harrison, 
Lewis  Bur  well,  George  Braxton,  and  John  Fleming, 
who  were,  doubtless,  advocates  of  the  scheme. 

The  exclamation  so  indelibly  impressed  on  Mr. 
Jefferson's  memory  is  an  example  of  Mr.  Henry's 
wonderful  power  of  expression,  by  which  he  was 
enabled  to  condense  his  argument  into  one  brilliant 
sentence,  which,  like  an  electric  flash,  illumined  his 
subject,  and  stamped  itself  on  the  minds  of  his  hear 
ers.  In  this,  Mr.  Henry's  first  debate  in  the  House, 
he  displayed  not  only  his  great  powers  of  eloquence, 
but  his  courage  in  maintaining  his  convictions  of 
public  duty  against  the  united  efforts  of  the  aristo 
cratic  leaders  of  the  body.  He  at  once  threw  him 
self  athwart  their  path,  and  aroused  their  enmity, 
which  was  none  the  less  bitter  because  mixed  with 
dread. 

But  what  he  lost  on  one  side  of  the  House  he 
gained  on  the  other.  The  members  who,  like  him 
self,  represented  the  yeomanry  of  the  colony,  were 
filled  with  admiration  and  delight.  They  rallied 
around  the  man  who  was  one  of  themselves,  and 
who  showed  himself  able  to  cope  with  the  ablest  of 
the  old  leaders. 

Mr.  Henry,  since  the  argument  of  the  "  Parsons' 
Cause,"  had  been  recognized  in  his  county  as  the  bold-1 
est  of  the  advocates  of  colonial  rights,  and  it  was 
doubtless  due  to  this  that  he  had  been  elected  to 
the  House  of  Burgesses.  He  found  the  House 
thrown  into  consternation  by  the  intelligence  of  the 
passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  but  with  no  seeming  dis- 


ENTRANCE   ON   PUBLIC   LIFE.  79 

position  to  resist  its  execution.  The  men  who  had 
so  earnestly  protested  against  its  passage  felt  that 
they  had  done  their  whole  duty,  and  that  nothing 
was  left,  but  to  submit  to  the  will  of  Parliament. 
But  Mr.  Henry  was  of  a  different  mind.  His  won-* 
derful  political  sagacity,  so  often  displayed  after 
ward,  convinced  him,  that  submission  to  the  Act 
would  be  fatal  tQ  the  liberties  of  the  colonies ;  and 
that  a  bold  move  might  have  the  effect  of  uniting 
the  people  in  a  determined  opposition  to  its  execu 
tion,  the  only  hope  of  preventing  its  disastrous  con 
sequences.  So  believing,  he  wrote  on  the  blank  leaf 
of  an  old  copy  of  "  Coke  upon  Littleton,"  his  fa 
mous  resolutions  against  the  Act,  which  were  based 
upon  the  declaration  of  that  author,  that  it  is  against 
Magna  Charta,  and  the  franchises  of  the  land,  for 
freemen  to  be  taxed  but  by  their  own  consent,  and 
that  an  Act  of  Parliament  against  Magna  Charta,  or 
common  right,  or  reason,  is  void.  He  showed  them 
to  George  Johnston,  of  Fairfax,  and  John  Fleming, 
of  Cumberland,  before  moving  them,  and  obtained 
their  promise  of  support.  On  May  29,  his  twen 
ty-ninth  birthday,  he  offered  them  to  the  House 
sitting  in  committee  of  the  whole,1  and  Mr.  John 
ston  seconded  them.  Mr.  Henry,  who  was  careless 
in  the  preservation  of  papers  touching  his  public 
life,  considered  the  effect  of  these  resolutions  of 
such  transcendent  importance,  that  he  left,  along 
with  his  will,  a  copy  of  them,  and  an  account  of  their 
passage,  in  a  sealed  letter  endorsed,  "  Inclosed  are 
the  resolutions  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  in  1765, 
concerning  the  Stamp  Act.  Let  my  executors  open 

1  Paul  Carrington  wrote  Mr.   Wirt  that  Johnston  moved  to  go  into 
committee  of  the  whole  and  Mr.  Henry  seconded  the  motion. 


80  PATRICK   HENRY. 

this  paper."     Within  was  found  the  following  copy 
of  the  resolutions : 

"  Resolved^  That  the  first  adventurers  and  settlers 
of  this  his  Majesty's  colony  and  dominion  brought 
with  them,  and  transmitted  to  their  posterity,  and 
all  other  his  Majesty's  subjects  since  inhabiting  in 
this  his  Majesty's  said  colony,  all  the  privileges, 
franchises,  and  immunities  that  have  at  any  time 
been  held,  enjoyed,  and  possessed  by  the  people  of 
Great  Britain. 

"  Resolved,  That  by  two  royal  charters,  granted 
by  King  James  the  First,  the  colonists  aforesaid 
are  declared  entitled  to  all  the  privileges,  liberties, 
°)  and  immunities  of  denizens  and  natural-born  sub 
jects,  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  if  they  had  been 
abiding  and  born  within  the  realm  of  England. 

Resolved,  That  the  taxation  of  the  people  by 
themselves,  or  by  persons  chosen  by  themselves  to 
represent  them,  who  can  only  know  what  taxes  the 
people  are  able  to  bear,  and  the  easiest  mode  of 
raising  them,  and  are  equally  affected  by  such  taxes 
themselves,  is  the  distinguishing  characteristick  of 
British  freedom,  and  without  which  the  ancient  Con 
stitution  cannot  subsist. 

"Resolved,  That  his  Majesty's  liege  people  of  this 
most  ancient  colony  have  uninterruptedly  enjoyed 
the  right  of  being  thus  governed  by  their  own 
Assembly  in  the  article  of  their  taxes  and  internal 
\>.  police,  and  that  the  same  hath  never  been  forfeited 
or  any  other  way  given  up,  but  hath  been  constantly 
recognized  by  the  kings  and  people  of  Great  Brit 
ain. 

"  Resolved,  therefore,  That  the  General  Assembly 
of  this  colony  have  the  only  and  sole  exclusive  right 
and  power  to  lay  taxes  and  impositions  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  this  colony,  and  that  every  attempt 
to  vest  such  power  in  any  person  or  persons  whatso- 


ENTRANCE   ON   PUBLIC   LIFE.  81 

ever,  other  than  the  General  Assembly  aforesaid,  has 
a  manifest  tendency  to  destroy  British  as  well  as 
American  freedom." 

On  the  back  of  the  paper  containing  these  resolu 
tions  is  the  following  endorsement,  which  is  in  the 
handwriting  of  Mr.  Henry  himself  : 

"  The  within  resolutions  passed  the  House  of  Bur 
gesses  in  May,  1765.  They  formed  the  first  oppo 
sition  to  the  Stamp  Act  and  the  scheme  of  taxing 
America  by  the  British  Parliament.  All  the  colo 
nies,  either  through  fear,  or  want  of  opportunity  to 
form  an  opposition,  or  from  influence  of  some  kind 
or  other,  had  remained  silent.  I  had  been  for  the 
first  time  elected  a  Burgess  a  few  days  before,  was 
young,  inexperienced,  unacquainted  with  the  forms 
of  the  House,  and  the  members  that  composed  it. 
Finding  the  men  of  weight  averse  to  opposition,  and 
the  commencement  of  the  tax  at  hand,  and  that  no 
person  was  likely  to  step  forth,  I  determined  to  ven 
ture,  and  alone,  unadvised,  and  unassisted,  on  a  blank 
leaf  of  an  old  law-book,  wrote  the  within.  Upon 
offering  them  to  the  House  violent  debates  ensued. 
Many  threats  were  uttered,  and  much  abuse  cast  on 
me  by  the  party  for  submission.  After  a  long  and 
warm  contest  the  resolutions  passed  by  a  very  small 
majority,  perhaps  of  one  or  two  only.  The  alarm 
spread  throughout  America  with  astonishing  quick 
ness,  and  the  Ministerial  party  were  overwhelmed. 
The  great  point  of  resistance  to  British  taxation  was 
universally  established  in  the  colonies.  This  brought 
on  the  war  which  finally  separated  the  two  coun 
tries  and  gave  independence  to  ours.  Whether  this 
will  prove  a  blessing  or  a  curse,  will  depend  upon 
the  use  our  people  make  of  the  blessings  which  a 
gracious  God  hath  bestowed  on  us.  If  they  are  wise, 


82  PATRICK  HENRY. 

they  will  be  great  and  happy.  If  they  are  of  a  con 
trary  character,  they  will  be  miserable.  Righteous 
ness  alone  can  exalt  them  as  a  nation.  Reader ! 
whoever  thou  art,  remember  this;  and  in  thy 
sphere  practise  virtue  thyself,  and  encourage  it  iii 
others. 

«  P.  HENRY."  1 

In  addition  to  this  modest  statement  we  have  the 
following  interesting  account  given  by  Mr.  Jefferson. 
He  says,  as  quoted  by  Mr.  Wirt : 

"  Mr.  Henry  moved  and  Mr.  Johnston  seconded 
these  resolutions  successively.  They  were  opposed 
by  Messrs.  Randolph,  Bland,  Pendleton,  Wythe,  and 
all  the  old  members,  whose  influence  in  the  House 
had,  till  then,  been  unbroken.  They  did  it,  not  from 
any  question  of  our  rights,  but  on  the  ground  that 
the  same  sentiments  had  been,  at  their  preceding 
session,  expressed  in  a  more  conciliatory  form,  to 
which  the  answers  were  not  yet  received.  But  tor 
rents  of  sublime  eloquence  from  Henry,  backed  by 
the  solid  reasoning  of  Johnston,  pre vailed. s  The 
last,  however,  and  strongest  resolution  was  carried 
but  by  a  single  vote.  The  debate  on  it  was  most 
bloody.  I  was  then  but  a  student,  and  stood  at  the 
door  of  communication  between  the  House  and  the 
lobby  (for  as  yet  there  was  no  gallery)  during  the 
whole  debate  and  vote ;  and  I  well  remember  that, 
after  the  members  on  the  division  were  told  and  de 
clared  from  the  chair,  Peyton  Randolph  (the  Attor 
ney-General)  came  out  at  the  door  where  I  was 
standing,  and  said,  as  he  entered  the  lobby  :  *  By 
God,  I  would  have  given  500  guineas  for  a  single 
vote  ; '  for  one  would  have  divided  the  House,  and 

1  This  paper  is  in  the  possession  of  the  author. 

2  Paul  Carrington  says  that  Robert  Munford  and  John  Fleming  also 
spoke. 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC  LIFE.  83 

Robinson  was  in  the  chair,  who  he  knew  would 
have  negatived  the  resolution.  Mr.  Henry  left  town 
that  evening,  and  the  next  morning,  before  the 
meeting  of  the  House,  Colonel  Peter  Randolph,  then 
of  the  Council,  came  to  the  Hall  of  Burgesses,  and 
sat  at  the  clerk's  table  till  the  House- bell  rang, 
thumbing  over  the  volumes  of  journals,  to  find  a 
precedent  for  expunging  a  vote  of  the  House,'which, 
he  said,  had  taken  place  while  he  was  a  member  or 
clerk  of  the  House,  I  do  not  recollect  which.  I 
stood  by  him  at  the  end  of  the  table  a  considerable 
part  of  the  time,  looking  on,  as  he  turned  over  the 
leaves,  but  I  do  not  recollect  whether  he  found  the 
erasure.  In  the  meantime,  some  of  the  timid  mem 
bers,  who  had  voted  for  the  strongest  resolution,  had 
become  alarmed ;  and  as  soon  as  'the  House  met,  a 
motion  was  made  and  carried  to  expunge  it  from  the 
journal.  There  being  at  that  day  but  one  printer, 
and  he  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  Governor, 
I  do  not  know  that  the  resolution  ever  appeared  in 
print.  I  write  this  from  memory,  but  the  impression 
made  on  me  at  the  time  was  such  as  to  fix  the  facts 
indelibly  in  my  mind.  I  suppose  the  original  journal 
was  among  those  destroyed  by  the  British,  or  its 
obliterated  face  might  be  appealed  to.  And  here  I 
will  state,  that  Burk's  statement  of  Mr.  Henry's  con 
senting  to  withdraw  two  resolutions,  by  way  of  com 
promise  with  his  opponents,  is  entirely  erroneous."  * 

In  his  autobiography  Mr.  Jefferson  says  of  Mr. 
Henry's  speech  :  "  I  attended  the  debate  at  the  door 
of  the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  and  heard 
the  splendid  display  of  Mr.  Henry's  talents  as  a 
popular  orator.  They  were  great  indeed  ;  such  as 
I  have  never  heard  from  any  other  man.  He  ap 
peared  to  me  to  speak  as  Homer  wrote." 

1  Wirt's  Henry,  78-9. 


84  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Judge  Paul  Carrington,  who  entered  the  House  on 
the  25th  of  the  month  as  a  delegate  from  Charlotte, 
in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Wirt,  sustains  the  recollections 
of  Mr.  Jefferson.  He  declared  that  Mr.  Henry's 
eloquence  in  the  debate  was  beyond  his  powers  of 
description.  He  states  that  on  the  30th,  after  the 
adoption  of  the  resolutions  by  the  House,  Mr.  Henry 
left  for  his  home,1  and  the  next  day,  on  the  motion 
of  the  Attorney-General,  the  fifth  resolution  was 
erased  from  the  record.  He  adds  that  the  journal 
was  soon  afterward  missing.  The  printed  journal 
sustains  these  gentlemen,  in  that  it  only  contains  the 
first  four  resolutions.  The  entries  on  it  touching 
the  matter  are  as  -follows  : 

"  1 765,  May  29.  On  motion  made,  Resolved,  That 
the  House  resolve  itself  into  a  committee  of  the 
whole  House  immediately,  to  consider  the  steps 
necessary  to  be  taken  in  consequence  of  the  reso 
lutions  of  the  House  of  Commons  of  Great  Britain, 
relative  to  the  charging  certain  Stamp  Duties  in 
the  Colonies  and  Plantations  in  America. 

"  The  House  accordingly  resolved  itself  into  the 
said  committee,  and  after  some  time  spent  therein 
Mr.  Speaker  resumed  the  chair,  and  Mr.  Attorney 
reported,  that  the  said  committee  had  had  the  said 
matter  under  their  consideration,  and  had  come  to 
several  resolutions  thereon,  which  he  was  ready  to 
deliver  in  at  the  table.  Ordered,  That  the  said  re 
port  be  received  to-morrow." 

"  May  30.  Mr.  Attorney,  from  the  committee  of 
the  whole  House,  reported,  according  to  order,  that 

1  "On  the  afternoon  of  the  day  that  his  resolutions  were  adopted,  he 
might  have  been  seen  passing  along  the  street,  on  his  way  to  his  home  in 
Louisa,  clad  in  a  pair  of  leather  breeches,  his  saddle-bags  on  hia  arm, 
leading  a  lean  horse,  and  chatting  with  Paul  Carrington,  who  walked  by 
his  side."  Grigsby's  Convention  of  1776,  citing  Carrington  memoranda. 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC   LIFE.  85 

the  committee  had  considered  of  the  steps  necessary 
to  be  taken,  in  consequence  of  the  resolutions  of 
the  House  of  Commons  of  Great  Britain  relative  to 
the  charging  certain  Stamp  Duties  in  the  Colonies 
and  Plantations  in  America,  and  that  they  had 
come  to  several  resolutions  thereon,  which  he  read  in 
his  place,  and  then  delivered  in  at  the  table,  where 
they  were  again  twice  read,  and  agreed  to  by  the 
House,  with  some  amendments,  and  are  as  follows : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  first  adventurers  and  settlers 
of  this  his  Majesty's  Colony  and  Dominion  of  Vir 
ginia  brought  with  them,  and  transmitted  to  their 
posterity,  and  all  other  his  Majesty's  subjects  since 
inhabiting  in  this  his  Majesty's  said  Colony,  all 
the  Liberties,  Privileges,  Franchises,  and  Immuni 
ties  that  have  at  any  time  been  held,  enjoyed,  and 
possessed  by  the  People  of  Great  Britain. 

"  Resolved,  That  by  two  Royal  Charters,  granted 
by  King  James  the  First,  the  Colonists  aforesaid 
are  declared  entitled  to  all  Liberties,  Privileges,  and 
Immunities  of  Denizens  and  Natural  Subjects,  to 
all  intents  and  purposes,  as  if  they  had  been  abid 
ing  and  born  within  the  Realm  of  England. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  taxation  of  the  People  by 
themselves,  or  by  Persons  chosen  by  themselves  to 
represent  them,  who  can  only  know  what  taxes  the 
People  are  able  to  bear,  or  the  easiest  method  of 
raising  them,  and  must  themselves  be  affected  by 
every  tax  laid  on  the  people,  is  the  only  security 
against  a  burthensome  taxation,  and  the  distinguish 
ing  characteristick  of  British  Freedom,  without 
which  the  Ancient  Constitution  cannot  exist. 

"  Resolved,  That  his  Majesty's  liege  People  of  this 
his  most  ancient  and  Loyal  Colony,  have  without  in 
terruption  enjoyed  the  inestimable  Right  of  being 
governed  by  such  laws,  respecting  their  internal 
Polity  and  Taxation,  as  are  derived  from  their  own 
consent,  with  the  approbation  of  their  Sovereign,  or 


86  PATRICK  HENRY. 

his  substitute ;  and  that  the  same  hath  never  been 
forfeited  or  yielded  up,  but  hath  been  constantly 
recognized  by  the  Kings  and  People  of  Great 
Britain.'7 

It  was  in  the  "  most  bloody  "  debate  on  the  last 
or  fifth  resolution,  that  Mr.  Henry,  while  descanting 
on  the  tyranny  of  the  obnoxious  Act,  exclaimed  in  a 
voice  and  with  a  gesture  which  startled  the  House : 
u  Tarquin  1  and  Caesar  had  each  his  Brutus,  Charles  * 
the  First  his  Cromwell,  and  George  the  Third 

— "  "  Treason  !"  shouted  the  Speaker.  "Treason! 
Treason ! "  echoed  from  every  part  of  the  House. 
Without  faltering  for  an  instant,  but  rising  to  a 
loftier  attitude,  and  fixing  on  the  Speaker  an  eye 
which  seemed  to  flash  fire,  Mr.  Henry  added,  with 
the  most  thrilling  emphasis —  "  may  profit  by  their 
example  !  If  this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it."  2 

As  no  division  was  recorded,  we  have  not  the 
names  of  those  voting  for  and  against  these  resolu 
tions.  We  learn,  however,  from  Judge  Paul  Car- 
rington's  letter  to  Mr.  Wirt  that  the  House  was 
thin,  probably  not  more  than  forty-one  being  pres 
ent,  and  that  the  six  members  from  his  immediate 
section  voted  with  Mr.  Henry.  These  were  Henry 
Blagrave  and  William  Taylor  from  Lunenburg, 
Robert  Munf ord  and  Edmund  Taylor  from  Mecklen 
burg,  and  Paul  Carrington  and  Thomas  Read  from 
Charlotte.  George  Johnston,  from  Fairfax,  and  John 
Fleming,  from  Cumberland,  are  known  to  have  sup 
ported  him,  and  doubtless  George  Washington 

1  Or  as  some  reported  it,  "  Caesar  had  his  Brutus." 

2  Letter  from  Virginia,   June   14,  1765,   in  London  "Gazetteer"  of 
August  13,  1765,  and  in  General  Advertiser  to  New  York  Thursday's 
"Gazette,"  October  31,  1765,  cited  by  Bancroft,  v.  277.     MS.  letter  of 
Paul  Carrington  to  Mr.  Wirt. 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC   LIFE.  87 

voted  for  the  resolutions,  as  a  letter  written  soon 
afterward  indicates  strong  opposition  to  the  Act. 
Mr.  Jefferson  in  after  years  said  that  the  members 
from  the  upper  counties  invariably  supported  Mr. 
Henry  in  his  revolutionary  measures,  1  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  they  did  so  on  this  occasion,  and 
that  to  the  Scotch-Irish  and  Huguenot  members  he 
was  indebted  for  his  triumph. 

"  By  these  resolutions,"  says  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  and 
his  manner  of  supporting  them,  Mr.  Henry  took  the 
lead  out  of  the  hands  of  those  who  had  theretofore 
guided  the  proceedings  of  the  House  ;  that  is  to  say, 
of  Pendleton,  Wythe,  Bland,  and  Randolph."  It 
was  indeed  a  wonderful  triumph.  That  a  young 
man,  for  the  first  time  a  member  of  a  deliberative 
body,  and  a  stranger  to  nearly  every  member, 
should,  within  ten  days  after  taking  his  seat,  pro 
pose  and  carry  through  the  House,  against  the  united 
efforts  of  the  able  men  who  had  long  controlled  the 
body,  resolutions  which  placed  the  colony  in  direct 
antagonism  to  the  British  Government,  is  a  feat  un 
precedented  in  the  annals  of  legislation,  and  is  of 
itself  the  highest  testimony  to  his  transcendent  ge 
nius.  From  that  day  he  had  a  right  to  be,  as  he  was, 
the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  colony  of  Virginia. 

The  session  was  drawing  to  a  close,  but  the  Gov 
ernor,  alarmed  by  these  resolutions,  sent  for  the 
House,  and  on  June  1,  dissolved  it,  instead  of  pro 
roguing  it  to  a  future  day. 

It  will  be  noted  that  Mr.  Henry  preserved  five 
resolutions  which  he  stated  passed  the  House  of 
Burgesses.  The  absence  of  the  last  one  from  the 
printed  journal  has  been  accounted  for,  by  the  action 

1  Conversation  with  Daniel  Webster.    Curtis' s  Webster. 


88  PATRICK   HENRY. 

of  the  body  rescinding  it  the  next  day,  when  Mr. 
Henry  was  absent.  But  the  resolutions  which  were 
printed  and  circulated  as  the  action  of  the  Assem 
bly  were  six  in  number,  and  besides  differing  some 
what  in  language  in  the  first  five,  they  declared 
in  the  sixth,  that  any  one  who  maintained  that  the 
Assembly  had  not  the  sole  power  to  lay  taxes  on  the 
people,  should  be  deemed  an  enemy  to  the  colony. 
How  these  came  to  be  published  as  the  action  of 
the  Assembly  is  an  interesting  question,  and  the 
following  contemporaneous  references  to  the  matter 
will  throw  light  upon  the  subject. 

On  June  5,  1765,  Governor  Fauquier  wrote  to 
the  Lords  of  Trade  as  follows : 1 

l<  On  Saturday,  the  1st  instant,  I  dissolved  the  As 
sembly,  after  passing  all  the  bills  except  one,  which 
were  ready  for  my  assent.  The  four  Resolutions, 
which  I  now  have  the  honor  to  inclose  to  your  Lord 
ships,  will  show  your  Lordships  the  reason  of  my  con 
duct,  and  I  hope  justify  it.  I  will  relate  the  whole 
proceeding  to  your  Lordships  in  as  concise  a  manner 
as  I  am  able. 

"  On  Wednesday,  May  29th,  just  at  the  end  of  the 
session,  when  most  of  the  members  had  left  the  town, 
there  being  but  thirty-nine  present  of  one  hundred 
and  sixteen,  of  which  the  House  of  Burgesses  now 
consists,  a  motion  was  made  to  take  into  considera 
tion  the  Stamp  Act,  a  copy  of  which  had  crept  into 
the  House ;  and  in  a  committee  of  the  whole  five 
resolutions  were  proposed  and  agreed  to,  all  by  very 
small  majorities.  On  Thursday,  the  30th,  they  were 
reported  and  agreed  to  by  the  House,  the  number 
being  as  before  in  the  committee ;  the  greatest  ma- 

1  See  note  to  p.  266  of  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  Sparks's  American  Biog 
raphy. 


ENTRANCE   ON   PUBLIC   LIFE.  89 

jority  being  twenty-two  to  seventeen ;  for  the  fifth 
resolution,  twenty  to  nineteen  only.  On  Friday,  the 
31st,  there  having  happened  a  small  alteration  in 
the  House,  there  was  an  attempt  to  strike  all 
the  resolutions  off  the  journals.  The  fifth,  which 
was"  thought  the  most  offensive,  was  accordingly 
struck  off,  but  it  did  not  succeed  as  to  the  other 
four.  I  am  informed  the  gentlemen  had  two  more 
resolutions  in  their  pocket,  but  finding  the  difficulty 
they  had  in  carrying  the  fifth,  which  was  by  a 
single  voice,  and  knowing  them  to  be  more  viru 
lent  and  inflammatory,  they  did  not  produce  them. 

"  The  most  strenuous  opposers  of  this  rash  heat 
were  the  late  Speaker,  the  King's  Attorney,  and  Mr. 
Wythe ;  but  they  were  overpowered  by  the  young, 
hot,  and  giddy  members.  In  the  course  of  the  de 
bates  I  have  heard  that  very  indecent  language 
was  used  by  Mr.  Henry,  a  young  lawyer,  who  had 
not  been  above  a  month  a  member  of  the  House,  and 
who  carried  all  the  young  members  with  him.  So 
that  I  hope  I  am  authorized  at  least  in  saying,  that 
there  is  cause  to  doubt  whether  this  wrould  have 
been  the  sense  of  the  colony,  if  most  of  their  repre 
sentatives  had  done  their  duty  by  attending  to  the 
end  of  the  session." 

In  a  letter  written  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  Au 
gust  12,  1765,  from  King  and  Queen  County,  by 
Rev.  William  Robinson,  Commissary  for  Virginia,1 
the  following  reference  is  made  to  the  matter. 
After  stating  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Henry  in  the  "  Par 
sons'  Cause,"  the  writer  says  :  "  He  has  since  been 
chosen  a  representative  of  one  of  the  counties,  in 
which  character  he  has  lately  distinguished  himself 
in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  on  occasion  of  the  arrival 
of  an  Act  of  Parliament  for  stamp  duties  while  the 

1  Perry's  Historical  Papers,  Virginia,  514. 


90  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Assembly  was  sitting.  He  blazed  out  in  a  violent 
speech  against  the  authority  of  Parliament  and  the 
King,  comparing  his  Majesty  to  a  Tarquin,  a  Caesar, 
and  a  Charles  the  First,  and  not  sparing  insinua 
tions  that  he  wished  another  Cromwell  would  arise. 
He  made  a  motion  for  several  outrageous  resolves, 
some  of  which  passed,  and  were  again  erased  as  soon 
as  his  back  was  turned.  Such  was  the  behavior  in 
the  Lower  House  of  Assembly,  that  the  Governor 
could  not  save  appearances  without  dissolving  them. 
They  were  accordingly  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Henry, 
the  hero  of  whom  I  have  been  writing,  is  gone 
quietly  into  the  upper  parts  of  the  country,  to  rec 
ommend  himself  to  his  constituents  by  spreading 
treason,  and  enforcing  firm  resolutions  against  the 
authority  of  the  British  Parliament.  This  is  at  least 
the  common  report.  The  concluding  resolve  which 
he  offered  to  the  House,  and  which  fell  among  the 
rejected  ones,  was  that  any  person  who  should  write 
or  speak  in  favor  of  the  Act  of  Parliament  for  lay 
ing  stamp  duties,  should  be  deemed  an  enemy  to  the 
colony  of  Virginia ;  such  notions  has  he  of  liberty 
and  property,  as  well  as  of  authority." 

As  the  writer  was  a  cousin  of  John  Robinson, 
and  lived  in  the  same  county  with  him,  it  is  prob 
able  he  got  his  information  from  the  Speaker. 

Gordon,  in  his  "  History  of  the  American  Revolu 
tion  " l  gives  the  original  resolutions  which,  he  states, 
were  offered  by  Mr.  Henry,  and  adds  :  "  Upon  read 
ing  these  resolves  the  Scotch  gentlemen  in  the  House 
cried  out  treason,  etc.  They  were,  however,  adopted. 
The  next  day  some  old  members  got  them  revised, 
though  they  could  not  carry  it  to  reject  them.  As 

.  »  Pp.  117-18. 


ENTRANCE   ON   PUBLIC   LIFE.  91 

revised,  they  stand  thus  on  the  printed  journals  of 
the  House  of  Burgesses,  etc." 

John  Marshall,  whose  father  was  a  member,  in  his 
i(  Life  of  Washington  "  gives  the  original  resolutions 
in  nearly  the  same  words  as  Gordon,  and  adds,  that 
they  all  passed  the  committee,  but  the  last  two  were 
lost  in  the  House.  Edmund  Randolph  makes  the 
same  statement  in  his  "  History  of  Virginia."  Gor 
don  states  that  "  a  manuscript  of  the  unre vised 
resolves  soon  reached  Philadelphia,  having  been 
sent  off  immediately  upon  their  passing,  that  the 
earliest  information  of  what  had  been  done  might 
be  obtained  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty.  From  thence 
the  like  was  forwarded  on  June  17th.  At  New  York 
the  resolves  were  handed  about  with  great  privacy ; 
they  were  accounted  so  treasonable  that  the  posses 
sors  of  them  declined  printing  them  in  that  city. 
The  Irish  gentleman  alluded  to  above  (from  Con 
necticut)  being  there,  inquired  after  them,  and  with 
much  precaution  was  admitted  to  take  a  copy.  He 
carried  them  to  New  England,  where  they  were  pub 
lished  and  circulated  far  and  wide  in  the  newspa 
pers,  without  any  reserve,  and  proved  eventually  the 
occasion  of  those  disorders  which  afterward  broke 
out  in  the  colonies." 

The  original  resolves  as  printed  by  Gordon,  ap 
peared  in  The  Newport  Mercury  June  24,  and  were 
copied  into  the  Boston  papers  of  July  I.1  They  are 
as  follows : 

"  Whereas,  The  Honorable  House  of  Commons,  in 
England,  have  of  late  drawn  into  question  how  far 
the  General  Assembly  of  this  colony  hath  power  to 

1  Frotliingliam's  Rise  of  the  Republic,  180. 


92  PATRICK   HENRY. 

enact  laws  for  laying  of  taxes  and  imposing  duties 
payable  by  the  people  of  this,  his  Majesty's  most 
ancient  colony;  for  settling  and  ascertaining  the 
same  to  all  future  times,  the  House  of  Burgesses  of 
this  present  General  Assembly  have  come  to  the  fol 
lowing  resolves. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  first  adventurers,  settlers  of 
this  his  Majesty's  colony  and  dominion  of  Virginia, 
brought  with  them  and  transmitted  to  their  poster 
ity,  and  all  other  his  Majesty's  subjects,  since  in 
habiting  in  this  his  Majesty's  colony,  all  the  privi 
leges  and  immunities  that  have  at  any  time  been 
held,  enjoyed,  and  possessed  by  the  people  of  Great 
Britain. 

"  Resolved,  That  by  two  royal  charters,  granted 
by  King  James  the  First,  the  colony  aforesaid  are 
declared  and  entitled  to  all  privileges  and  immuni 
ties  of  natural-born  subjects,  to  all  intents  and  pur 
poses  as  if  they  had  been  abiding,  and  born  within 
the  realm  of  England. 

"Resolved^  That  his  Majesty's  liege  people  of  this 
his  ancient  colony  have  enjoyed  the  right  of  being 
thus  governed  by  their  own  Assembly  in  the  article 
of  taxes  and  internal  police,  and  that  the  same  have 
never  been  forfeited,  or  any  other  way  yielded  up, 
but  have  been  constantly  recognized  by  the  King 
and  people  of  Great  Britain. 

"  Resolved,  Therefore,  that  the  General  Assem 
bly  of  this  colony,  together  with  his  Majesty  or  his 
substitutes,  have,  in  their  representative  capacity, 
the  only  exclusive  right  and  power  to  lay  taxes  and 
imposts  upon  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony;  and  that 
every  attempt  to  vest  such  power  in  any  other  person 
or  persons  whatever  than  the  General  Assembly 
aforesaid,  is  illegal,  unconstitutional,  and  unjust, 
and  has  a  manifest  tendency  to  destroy  British  as 
well  as  American  liberty. 

"Resolved,  That  his  Majesty's  liege  people,  the 


ENTRANCE   ON   PUBLIC   LIFE.  93 

inhabitants  of  this  colony,  are  not  bound  to  yield 
obedience  to  any  law  or  ordinance  whatever,  de 
signed  to  impose  any  taxation  whatsoever  upon  them, 
other  than  the  laws  or  ordinances  of  the  General 
Assembly  aforesaid. 

"  Resolved,  That  any  person  who  shall,  by  speak 
ing  or  writing,  assert  or  maintain  that  any  person 
or  persons,  other  than  the  General  Assembly  of  this 
colony,  have  any  right  or  power  to  impose  or  lay  any 
taxation  on  the  people  here,  shall  be  deemed  an 
enemy  to  his  Majesty's  colony." 

The  four  resolutions  which  appear  on  the  Journal 
and  two  additional  ones  were  printed  in  the  Will- 
iamsburg  Gazette.1  And  it  is  stated  in  the  "  Pri 
or  Documents,"  printed  in  London  in  1777,  that 
these  additional  ones  ."were  not  passed,  but  only 
drawn  up  by  the  committee,"  which  means  they 
were  reported  by  the  committee  of  the  whole  to 
the  House. 

From  these  statements  it  appears  that  six  resolu 
tions  were  offered  in  committee  of  the  whole,  and 
were  there  agreed  to ;  that  upon  the  report  of  the 
committee  to  the  House,  the  five  resolutions  were 
adopted  which  were  preserved  by  Mr.  Henry ;  that 
on  the  next  day  the  last  of  these  was  rescinded,  and 
does  not  appear  on  the  printed  journal ;  and  that 
the  resolutions  offered  and  agreed  to  in  the  com 
mittee  of  the  whole,  including  the  preamble  which 
was  afterward  struck  out,  were  published  and  taken 
as  the  action  of  the  Virginia  Assembly.2 

The  publication  of  Mr.  Henry's  resolutions  against 

1  Campbell's  History  of  Virginia,  543. 

-""The  two  last  resolutions,  which  were  struck  out  by  the  House,  are 
riven  l>y  Judge  Marshall  in  the  words  above  quoted  from  Gordon. 


94  PATRICK   HENRY. 

the  Stamp  Act  created  a  widespread  and  intense 
excitement.  They  were  hailed  as  the  action  of  the 
oldest,  and  hitherto  the  most  loyal  of  the  colonies  ; 
and  as  raising  a  standard  of  resistance  to  the  de 
tested  Act.  Mr.  Otis  pronounced  them  treasona 
ble,1  and  this  was  the  verdict  of  the  Government 
party.  But,  treasonable  or  not,  they  struck  a  chord 
which  vibrated  throughout  America.  Hutchinson 
declared  that,  "  nothing  extravagant  appeared  in 
the  papers  till  an  account  was  received  of  the  Vir 
ginia  resolves."  2  Soon  the  bold  exclamation  of  Mr. 
Henry  in  moving  them  was  published,  and  he  was 
hailed  as  the  leader  raised  up  by  Providence  for  the 
occasion.  The  Boston  Gazette,  declared  :  u  The  peo 
ple  of  Virginia  have  spoken  very  sensibly,  and  the 
frozen  politicians  of  a  more  northern  government  say 
they  have  spoken  treason."  But  the  people  were  no 
longer  to  be  held  down  by  "  the  frozen  politi 
cians,"  north  or  south.  They  commenced  to  form 
secret  societies  pledged  to  the  resistance  of  the  Act 
by  all  lawful  means,  which  were  called  "  The  Sons 
of  Liberty."  The  first  notice  of  the  existence  of 
these  associations  seems  to  have  been  in  the  Boston 
Gazette,  July  22, 1765,  which  describes  them  as  form 
ing  in  the  several  colonies.  They  were  composed 
for  the  most  part  of  the  laboring  classes,  but  were 
guided  by  able  and  influential  leaders,  and  were  the 
mainspring  of  the  popular  demonstrations  against 
the  Government.  After  a  while  they  became  open  in 
their  actions  and  published  their  proceedings.  By 
their  correspondence  they  united  the  continent  in 
opposition  to  the  Act,  and  pledged  themselves  to 

1  Hutchinson' s  History  of  Massachusetts,  iii.,  119. 
8  Gordon's  History  of  American  Revolution,  i.,  137. 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC  LIFE.  95 

defend  any  who  might  be  in  danger  from  their 
action.1 

By  some  a  system  of  passive  resistance  was  de 
termined  on,  and  agreements  to  encourage  home 
manufactures  and  to  discontinue  importations  were 
entered  into.  They  laid  hold  of  the  advice  of  Dr. 
Franklin,  and  adopted  "  Frugality  and  Industry,"  as 
their  watchwords.  In  this  movement  the  women  of 
America  were  conspicuous. 

In  Virginia  the  effect  of  the  stand  taken  by  the 
Assembly  was  early  reported  by  Governor  Fan- 
quier  to  the  Ministry.  He  wrote,  June  14  :  "  Gov 
ernment  is  set  at  defiance,  not  having  strength 
enough  in  her  hands  to  enforce  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  the  Community.  The  private  distress, 
which  every  man  feels,  increases  the  general  dissatis 
faction  at  the  duties  laid  by  the  Stamp  Act,  which 
breaks  out  and  shows  itself  upon  every  trifling  oc 


casion." 


The  excitement  of  the  peopl§  was  greatly  increased 
by  the  publication  of  the  names  of  the  stamp  dis 
tributors,  who  were  at  once  denounced  as  traitors  to 
the  cause  of  liberty ;  and  the  feeling  of  indignation 
at  the  contemplated  wrong  rose  so  high  that  it  was 
impossible  to  restrain  it. 

The  first  public  disturbances  were  in  Massachu 
setts.  They  commenced  in  the  city  of  Boston  on 
August  12,  1765.  On  the  morning  of  the  14th,  an 
effigy  of  Oliver,  the  stamp  distributor  for  the  col 
ony,  was  discovered  hanging  on  the  limb  of  an  old 
elm  near  the  entrance  to  the  city,  ever  after  known 
as  "  Liberty  Tree."  At  once  a  crowd  collected,  and 

1  Frothingham's  Else  of  the  Republic,  183. 

2  Burke's  Speech  on  American  Taxation. 


96  PATRICK   HENRY. 

a  riot  commenced  with  the  cry  of,  "  Liberty,  Prop 
erty,  and  no  Stamps  ! "  which  was  not  quieted  till 
Oliver  had  resigned  his  office.  On  August  26  an 
other  riot  broke  out,  which  destroyed  the  records 
of  the  Admiralty  Court,  and  left  the  dwelling  of 
Hutchinson  in  ruins.  These  disturbances  were  fol 
lowed  by  similar  uprisings  in  other  towns  of  Massa 
chusetts,1  and  in  other  colonies,  and  before  Novem 
ber,  when  the  Act  was  to  go  into  effect,  every  per 
son  who  had  been  appointed  stamp  distributor  had 
been  forced  to  resign,  and  all  the  stamps  landed  had 
been  destroyed.  The  spirit  which  animated  the  peo 
ple  may  be  judged  by  the  resolves  of  a  large  meet 
ing  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  of  the  county  and  town 
of  Norfolk,  Va.,  March  31,  1766.  After  expressing 
loyalty  to  the  King,  and  readiness  "when  consti 
tutionally  called  upon,  to  assist  his  Majesty  with 
our  lives  and  fortunes,  and  defend  all  his  just  rights 
and  prerogatives,"  they 

"  Resolved,  That  we  will  by  all  lawful  ways  and 
means  which  Divine  Providence  hath  put  into  our 
hands,  defend  ourselves  in  the  full  enjoyment  of, 
and  preserve  inviolate  to  posterity,  those  inesti 
mable  privileges  of  all  free-born  British  subjects,  of 
being  taxed  by  none  but  representatives  of  their  own 
choosing,  and  of  being  tried  only  by  a  jury  of  their 
own  peers ;  for  if  we  quietly  submit  to  the  execu 
tion  of  the  said  Stamp  Act,  all  our  claims  to  civil 
liberty  will  be  lost,  and  we  and  our  posterity  be 
come  absolute  slaves. 

"Resolved,  That  we  will,  on  any  future  occasion, 
sacrifice  our  lives  and  fortunes,  in  concurrence  with 
the  other  Sons  of  Liberty  in  American  provinces,  to 

1  Frotliingliam's  Rise  of  the  Republic,  184,  note. 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC  LIFE.  97 

defend  and  preserve  those  invaluable  blessings  trans 
mitted  by  our  ancestors. 

"Resolved,  That  whoever  is  concerned,  directly 
or  indirectly,  in  using,  or  causing  to  be  used,  in  any 
way  or  manner  whatever,  within  this  colony,  unless 
authorized  by  the  General  Assembly  thereof,  those 
detestable  papers  called  stamps,  shall  be  deemed  to 
all  intents  and  purposes,  an  enemy  to  his  country, 
and  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty  treated  accordingly." 1 

These  were  but  the  echo  of  Mr.  Henry's  resolu 
tions. 

All  classes  united  in  resistance  to  the  Act.  On 
November  4,  General  Gage  wrote  from  New  York  : 

"  It  is  difficult  to  say,  from  the  highest  to  the  low 
est,  who  has  not  been  accessory  to  this  insurrection, 
either  by  writing  or  mutual  agreements  to  oppose 
the  Act,  by  what  they  are  pleased  to  term  all  legal 
opposition  to  it.  Nothing  effectual  has  been  pro 
posed  either  to  prevent  or  quell  the  tumult.  The 
rest  of  the  provinces  are  in  the  same  situation  as  to 
a  positive  refusal  to  take  the  stamps ;  and  threaten 
ing  those  who  shall  take  them  to  plunder  and  mur 
der  them  ;  and  this  affair  stands  in  all  the  provinces, 
that  unless  the  Act  from  its  own  nature  enforce  it 
self,  nothing  but  a  very  considerable  military  force 
can  do  it." 

The  Rev.  James  Maury,  the  defeated  plaintiff  in 
the  Parsons'  Cause,  but  now  the  ardent  admirer  of 
Mr.  Henry's  doctrine  of  liberty,  wrote  December  31, 
1765,  to  Mr.  John  Fountaine  of  London: 2 

"  But  what  has  given  a  most  general  alarm  to  all 
the  colonists  on  this  continent,  and  most  of  those  in 

1  Virginia  Historical  Register,  vi.,  212. 

2  History  of  a  Huguenot  Family,  424. 


98  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  islands,  and  struck  us  with  the  most  universal 
consternation  that  ever  seized  a  people  so  widely  dif 
fused,  is  a  late  Act  of  the  British  Parliament,  sub 
jecting  us  to  a  heavy  tax.  .  .  .  The  execution 
of  this  Act  was  to  have  commenced  on  the  first  of 
the  last  month  all  over  British  America,  but  hath 
been,  with  unprecedented  unanimity,  opposed  and 
prevented  by  every  province  on  the  continent,  and 
by  all  the  islands,  whence  we  have  any  advices  from 
that  date.  For  this  'tis  probable  some  may  brand 
us  with  the  odious  name  of  rebels,  and  others  may 
applaud  us  for  that  generous  love  of  liberty  which 
we  inherit  from  our  forefathers." 

Washington  wrote,  in  1767,  to  a  correspondent 
in  England : 

"  Had  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  resolved 
upon  enforcing  it,  [the  Stamp  Act]  the  consequences. 
I  conceive,  would  have  been  more  direful  than  is 
generally  apprehended,  both  to  the  mother  country 
and  to  her  colonies." 1 

The  spirit  of  resistance  displayed  by  the  people 
was  reflected  in  the  assemblies  which  met  during 
the  fall.  All  of  them  followed  the  lead  of  Virginia, 
and  adopted  substantially  her  resolutions,  sometimes 
using  the  same  language.  The  invitation  of  Massa 
chusetts  to  meet  in  a  congress,  at  first  coldly  re 
ceived,  was  now  accepted,  and  every  assembly  hav 
ing  an  opportunity  sent  delegates.  When  the  body 
met,  instead  of  confining  themselves  to  their  call  for 
a  "  dutiful,  loyal,  and  humble  representation  of  their 

1  For  the  violent  proceedings  in  the  several  colonies  see  The  Birth  of 
the  Republic,  16-07. 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC  LIFE.  99 

condition  to  his  Majesty  and  to  Parliament,  and 
to  implore  relief,"  they  commenced  by  declaring, 
"the  rights  and  grievances  of  the  colonies,"  in 
which  they  reiterated  the  ground  taken  in  the  Vir 
ginia  resolutions,  and  claimed  that  the  Stamp  Act, 
and  the  act  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  admiralty 
courts  in  which  the  right  to  a  trial  by  jury  was 
denied,  "  have  a  manifest  tendency  to  subvert  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  colonists."  The  same 
high  ground  was  taken  in  the  addresses  they  sent  to 
the  King  and  Parliament,  and  so  strongly  were  they 
expressed  that  Mr.  Buggies  declined  to  sign  them, 
and  Mr.  Otis  hesitated  to  do  so,  but  was  induced  to 
affix  his  name  by  Thomas  Lynch  of  the  South  Caro 
lina  delegation.1 

The  persons  who  watched  events  for  the  informa 
tion  of  the  Government,  all  united  in  ascribing  to 
the  Virginia  resolutions  the  determined  opposition 
to  the  execution  of  the  Stamp  Act  which  was  thus 
manifested.2  John  Hughes  wrote  from  Pennsylva 
nia,  "the  fire  began  in  Virginia."  Governor  Ber 
nard  wrote  from  Massachusetts : 

"  Two  or  three  months  ago  I  thought  that  this 
people  would  submit  to  the  Stamp  Act.  Murmurs 
were  indeed  continually  heard,  but  they  seemed  to 
be  such  as  would  die  away.  The  publishing  the 
Virginia  resolutions  proved  an  alarm-bell  to  the  dis 
affected." 

General  Gage,  commanding  the  British  forces, 
wrote  from  New  York3  to  Secretary  Conway, 

1  Gordon,  i.,  121.  2  Bancroft,  v.,  278,  and  Gordon,  i.,  137. 

3  Gage  to  Conway,  September  23,  1765. 


100  PATRICK  HENRY. 

September  23,  1765,  in  a  letter  laid  before  Parlia 
ment  : 

"  The  resolves  of  the  assembly  of  Virginia,  which 
you  will  have  seen,  g^ave  the  signal  for  a  general 
out-cry  over  the  continent,  and  though  I  do  not 
find  that  the  assemblies  of  any  other  province  have 
come  to  resolutions  of  the  same  tendency,  they  have 
been  applauded  as  the  protectors  and  assertors  of 
American  liberty ;  and  all  persons  excited  and  en 
couraged  by  writings  in  the  public  papers,  and 
speeches,  without  any  reserve,  to  oppose  the  execu 
tion  of  the  Act." 

Burke,  in  his  great  speech  on  American  taxation, 
delivered  in  the  House  of  Commons  April  19,  1774, 
declared,  "  on  the  information  received  from  the  sev 
eral  governors,"  that  the  Virginia  resolutions  were 
the  cause  of  the  insurrections  in  Massachusetts  and 
the  other  colonies. 

No  less  distinct  was  the  testimony  of  the  patriots 
in  America.  Mr.  Jefferson  stated  to  Mr.  Wirt,  that 
"  Mr.  Henry  certainly  gave  the  first  impulse  to  the 
ball  of  the  revolution."  Edmund  Randolph  in  his 
history  says :  "  On  May  29,  1765,  Mr.  Henry  plucked 
the  veil  from  the  shrine  of  parliamentary  omnipo 
tence."  John  Adams  wrote  to  Mr.  Henry,  June  3, 
1776,1  in  reference  to  his  part  in  framing  the  con 
stitution  for  the  State  of  Virginia :  "I  know  of  none 
so  competent  to  the  task  as  the  author  of  the  first 
Virginia  resolutions  against  the  Stamp  Act,  who  will 
have  the  glory  with  posterity  of  beginning  and  con 
cluding  this  great  revolution."  And  the  able  writer, 
Jonathan  Sewall  (or  Daniel  Leonard),  who,  over  the 

1  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  vol.  ix.,  p.  386. 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC  LIFE.  101 

signature   of    "  Massachusettensis,"   engaged    John 
Adams  in  a  political  controversy  in  1774,  wrote : l 

"Some  months  after  it  was  known  that  the 
Stamp  Act  was  passed,  some  resolves  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses  in  Virginia,  denying  the  right  of  parlia 
ment  to  tax  the  colonies,  made  their  appearance. 
We  read  them  with  wonder ;  they  savored  of  inde 
pendence  ;  they  flattered  the  human  passions ;  the 
reasoning  was  specious;  we  wished  it  conclusive. 
The  transition  to  believing  it  so  was  easy,  and  we, 
almost  all  America,  followed  their  example  in  resolv 
ing  that  the  parliament  had  no  such  right.  It  now 
became  unpopular  to  suggest  the  contrary,  his  life 
would  be  in  danger  that  asserted  it.  The  news 
papers  were  open  to  but  one  side  of  the  question ; 
and  the  inflammatory  pieces  that  issued  weekly 
from  the  press,  worked  up  the  populace  to  a  fit 
temper  to  commit  the  outrages  that  ensued." 

America  was  filled  with  Mr.  Henry's  fame,  and 
he  was  recognized  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  as 
the  man  who  rang  the  alarm  bell  which  had  aroused 
the  continent.  His  wonderful  powers  of  oratory 
engaged  the  attention  and  excited  the  admiration 
of  men,  and  the  more  so  as  they  were  not  considered 
the  result  of  laborious  training,  but  as  the  direct 
gift  of  Heaven.  Long  before  the  British  poet  ap 
plied  the  description  to  him,  he  was  recognized  as 

the  forest-born  Demosthenes 

Whose  thunder  shook  the  Philip  of  the  seas.8 

And  such  was  his  fame,  that,  in  the  estimation  of 
John  Adams,  to  enjoy  his  friendship  was  a  badge  of 
distinction.  He  notes  in  his  diary,  July  22,  1770, 

1  See  extracts  in  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  iv. ,  50. 

2  Byron's,  The  Age  of  Bronze. 


102  PATRICK  HENRY. 

meeting  Colonel  Severn  Eyre,  "  an  intimate  friend  of 
Mr.  Patrick  Henry,  the  first  mover  of  the  Virginia 
resolves  in  1765."  l 

On  the  publication  of  "Wirt's  sketch  of  Henry 
Mr.  Adams  wrote  to  the  author,  contesting  the 
statement  that  Mr.  Henry  brought  on  the  American 
Eevolution  by  his  resolutions  of  May  29,  1765,  and 
claiming  that  James  Otis  was  entitled  to  that  honor, 
in  his  speech  in  1761,  resisting  writs  of  assistance. 
Mr.  Adams  reiterated  this  claim  in  communications 
to  others,  and  in  describing  the  speech  of  Otis  as 
"  a  flame  of  fire,"  said,  "  The  child  Independence 
was  then  and  there  born.  Every  man  of  an  im 
mense  crowded  audience  appeared  to  me  to  go  away 
as  I  did,  ready  to  take  up  arms  against  writs  of 
assistance."  This  claim  is  effectually  disposed  of 
by  Wells,  in  his  life  of  Samuel  Adams,2  who  states 
with  great  accuracy  that  "  the  argument  of  Otis 
was  not  the  prologue  of  the  great  drama,  for  it  did 
not  then  begin.  The  American  Revolution  was 
caused  by,  and  opened  with,  the  revenue  acts.  The 
direct  issue  in  that  struggle,  was  the  raising  of  a 
revenue  from  the  colonies  without  their  consent,  and 
without  their  being  represented  in  Parliament. 
Independence  was  gained  in  consequence  of  the 
assertion  of  the  right  of  unconditional  taxation 
by  Parliament,  whence  grew  in  regular  sequence 
every  phase,  in  the  ten  years  of  controversy  with  the 
royal  governors  preceding  the  war.  It  was  not  till 
1765  that  the  Stamp  Act  passed  and  received  the 
royal  assent,  and  the  Revolution  was  born  with  the 
popular  resistance  to  that  measure  and  the  Acts  of 
1763."  This  would  have  been  a  complete  answer 

1  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  ii. ,  249.  2  Vol.  i.,  44. 


ENTRANCE   ON  PUBLIC  LIFE.  103 

to  Mr.  Adams,  had  he  not  answered  himself  in  his 
letter  to  Mr.  Henry  of  June  3,  1776.  But  Mr. 
Wells,  after  disposing  of  Mr.  Otis's  claim,  prefers 
one  for  Samuel  Adams, l  who  drew  the  Boston 
instructions  of  May  24,  1764,  remonstrating  against 
the  proposal  to  pass  a  stamp  act,  and  advising  a 
united  protest  against  it;  which  the  author  claims 
was,  "the  first  public  denial  of  the  right  of  the 
British  Parliament  to  tax  the  colonists  without  their 
consent,  and  the  first  suggestion  of  a  union  of  the 
colonies  for  redress  of  grievances."  2 

Far  be  it  from  the  writer  to  detract  from  the 
just  meed  of  praise  due  to  James  Otis  or  Samuel 
Adams,  whose  great  services  entitle  them  to  lasting 
honors,  by  all  who  value  the  principles  of  the  Amer 
ican  Revolution.  Undoubtedly  the  speech  of  Otis 
in  1761,  and  the  instructions  to  the  Boston  dele 
gates  drawn  by  Adams  in  1764,  had  much  to  do 
with  preparing  the  public  mind  for  the  resistance  to 
the  execution  of  the  Stamp  Act  which  broke  out  in 
1765.  But  the  same  may  be  said  of  all  the  public 
discussions,  written  and  oral,  which  took  place  in 
the  colonies  prior  to  1765,  in  which  the  rights  of 
the  colonies  were  maintained.  The  resolutions  of 
the  assemblies  in  1764,  and  1765,  set  forth,  that  the 
sole  right  to  tax  themselves  had  been  constantly 
claimed  by  the  colonies,  and  had  been  admitted  by 
Great  Britain.  Mr.  Adams  himself,  in  a  reply  to 
the  Governor's  speech  to  the  Massachusetts  Assem 
bly,  drawn  in  October,  1765,  uses  this  language: 
"  The  right  of  the  colonies  to  make  their  own  laws 
and  tax  themselves  has  been  never,  that  we  know 
of,  questioned ;  but  has  been  constantly  recognized 

1  Wells' s  Life  of  Samuel  Adams,  i.,  145.  2  Id.,  48. 


104  PATRICK  HENRY. 

by  the  King  and  Parliament."  *  We  have  seen  the 
action  of  the  Virginia  Assembly  in  1624.  In  1645 2 
it  solemnly  "  enacted  and  confirmed  that  no  learies 
be  raised  within  the  Collony,  but  by  a  Generall 
Grand  Assembly."  And  in  the  articles  of  surrender 
to  the  forces  of  Cromwell,  in  1651,  it  was  provided : 
"  That  Virginia  shall  be  free  from  all  taxes,  cus- 
toines  and  impositions  whatsoever,  and  none  to  be 
imposed  on  them  without  the  consent  of  the  General 
Assembly.  And  so  that  neither  fortes  nor  castles 
be  erected,  or  garrisons  maintained  without  their 
consent." 3 

As  to  the  idea  of  union,  for  protection,  the  Colo 
nies  had  long  been  familiar  with  it.4  It  had  been 
particularly  recommended  by  the  Albany  Conven 
tion  in  1754,  and  though  not  seen  to  be  necessary 
then,  was  at  once  recognized  as  necessary  when 
the  mother  country  developed  her  system  of  taxa 
tion. 

The  claim  of  Mr.  Adams's  biographer  cannot  there 
fore  be  sustained  in  either  particular ;  and  to  con 
test  the  claim  put  up  for,  and  by,  Mr.  Henry,  on 
such  grounds,  is  to  show  a  misapprehension  of  what 
that  claim  is.  As  stated  by  Mr.  Henry  it  is,  that 
the  passage  by  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  of 
his  resolutions  of  May  29,  1765,  formed  the  first  op 
position  to  the  Stamp  Act  after  its  passage;  and  by 
their  popular  effect,  the  great  point  of  resistance  to 
British  taxation  was  universally  established  in  the 
Colonies,  and  the  Revolutionary  War  was  thus 
brought  on.  All  that  had  been  done  concerning 
the  Stamp  Act  before  their  passage,  had  been  by 

1  Wells's  Life  of  Samuel  Adams,  73.  2  Hening,  vol.  i.,  320. 

3  Id.,  364.  4  Else  of  the  Republic,  28-9. 


ENTRANCE  ON  PUBLIC  LIFE.  105 

way  of  protest  against  an  act  proposed ;  what  these 
resolutions  accomplished,  was  resistance  to  an  act 
passed.  The  first  was  mere  protest  against  pro 
posed  action,  the  last  rebellion  against  action  had. 
It  is  plain,  from  the  entry  on  the  journal  of  the 
House,  that  the  object  of  the  House  was  to  inaugu 
rate  opposition  to  the  enforcement  of  the  Act.  The 
House  was  asked  to  go  into  committee  of  the  whole, 
"  to  consider  the  steps  necessary  to  be  taken  in 
consequence  of  the  resolutions  of  the  House  of 
Commons  of  Great  Britain,  relative  to  the  charging 
certain  stamp  duties  in  the  Colonies  and  Plantations 
in  America."  The  committee,  by  reporting  the 
resolutions  agreed  to,  showed  that  they  considered 
them  as  the  proper  answer  to  the  House  of  Com 
mons,  and  the  reiteration  of  the  principles  contained 
in  the  five  resolutions  reported,  was  a  bold  defiance 
of  Parliament.  That  they  were  so  considered,  is  the 
only  explanation  of  the  violent  opposition  they  met 
with,  in  and  out  of  the  House.  Governor  Fauquier 
styles  them,  "  this  rash  heat,"  and  justifies  his  dis 
solution  of  the  Assembly  by  giving  the  passage  of 
the  four,  found  on  the  journal,  as  the  reason  of  his 
conduct.  Secretary  Conway,  in  his  reply  to  Gov 
ernor  Fauquier,  September  14,  1765,1  says:  "The 
Ministry  persuade  themselves,  that  when  a  full 
assembly  shall  calmly  and  maturely  deliberate  on 
these  resolutions,  they  will  see,  and  be  themselves 
alarmed,  at  the  dangerous  tendency  and  mischievous 
consequences  which  they  might  be  productive  of, 
both  to  the  mother  country  and  to  the  colonies ; " 
thus  showing  that  the  Ministry  considered  them 

1  See  letter  in  note  to  Everett's  Life  of  Henry,  in  Sparks's  American 
Biography,  393, 


106  PATRICK  HENRY. 

treasonable.  But  the  most  overwhelming  proof  of 
the  assertion  of  Mr.  Henry  as  to  the  effect  of  his 
resolutions,  is  to  be  found  in  the  unanimous  contem 
porary  evidence,  establishing  the  fact  that  their 
publication  caused  the  resistance  to  the  execution 
of  the  Stamp  Act,  which  was  the  opening  scene  in 
the  drama  of  the  Kevohition, 


CHAPTER  V. 

PRACTICE  IN  THE  GENERAL  COURT.—  1766-1773. 

Change  in  the  British  Ministry.—  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  with  Claim 
of  Power  in  Parliament  over  Colonies.  —  Joy  in  England  and 
America.  —  The  New  Assembly.  —  Division  of  Office  of  Speaker 
and  Treasurer.  —  Friendship  of  Richard  Henry  Lee  and  Mr.  Hen 
ry.  —Acts  for  Additional  Taxation  on  Importation  of  Slaves, 
and  for  Relieving  Quakers  from  Military  Service.—  Fragment  of 
a  Paper  by  Mr.  Henry.  —  Persecution  of  Baptist  Ministers.  —  Mr. 
Henry  Enlists  in  their  Defence.—  His  Success  at  the  Bar.  —  Prac 
tises  in  the  General  Court.—  His  Power  over  Juries.—  Descrip 
tion  of  Him  as  He  Appeared  in  the  General  Court,  Given  by 
Judge  St.  George  Tucker. 


America  was  aroused  to  the  point  of  re 
sistance  to  the  Stamp  Act,  intelligence  was  received 
of  a  change  in  the  Ministry  which  greatly  strength 
ened  the  patriot  party  in  their  determination.  The 
Duke  of  Cumberland,  the  stern  conqueror  on  the 
field  of  Culloden,  became  Prime  Minister,  and  they 
could  have  nothing  to  hope  for  from  him  indeed  ; 
but  their  defender  on  the  floor  of  Parliament,  Gen 
eral  Conway,  was  the  new  Secretary  for  the  Colonies, 
and  through  him  they  trusted  Parliament  would  be 
induced  to  repeal  the  Act.  On  the  night  before 
the  Act  was  to  take  effect  the  Duke  died  suddenly, 
and  this  left  the  Ministry  unsettled  in  their  policy 
as  regards  the  serious  disturbances  reported  in  all 
the  colonies.  Parliament  was  called  together  to 
consult  as  to  the  measures  to  be  adopted.  Papers 
were  laid  before  the  body  showing  the  condition  of 


108  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  colonies,  and  among  them  the  Virginia  resolu 
tions  as  the  exciting  cause  of  the  disturbances.  The 
merchants  of  London  trading  to  North  America  rep 
resented  that  the  Stamp  Act  had  greatly  injured 
their  trade,  and  prayed  for  relief.  Witnesses  were 
examined,  and  among  the  number  Dr.  Franklin.  In 
the  House  of  Commons,  Pitt  urged  a  repeal  of  the 
Act  in  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  his  displays,  in 
which  he  denied  the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax 
America,  ridiculed  the  idea  of  her  representation  in 
Parliament,  and  exclaimed,  "  I  rejoice  that  America 
has  resisted.  Three  millions  of  people  so  dead  to 
all  the  feeling  of  liberty  as  voluntarily  to  submit  to 
be  slaves,  would  have  been  fit  instruments  to  make 
slaves  of  the  rest." 

In  the  House  of  Lords,  Lord  Camden  maintained 
the  cause  of  the  colonies  with  great  power.  He 
said : 

"  My  position  is  this — I  repeat  it,  I  will  maintain  it 
to  my  last  hour — taxation  and  representation  are  in 
separable  ;  this  position  is  founded  on  the  laws  of  nat 
ure  ;  it  is  more,  it  is  itself  an  eternal  law  of  nature ; 
for  whatever  is  a  man's  own  is  absolutely  his  own  ; 
no  man  hath  a  right  to  take  it  from  him  without  his 
consent,  either  expressed  by  himself  or  representa 
tive  ;  whoever  attempts  to  do  it  attempts  an  injury ; 
whoever  does  it  commits  a  robbery ;  he  throws 
down  and  destroys  the  distinction  between  liberty 
and  slavery.  Taxation  and  representation  are  co 
eval  with,  and  essential  to,  this  constitution." 

With  such  champions  as  these  the  repeal  of  the 
Act  was  carried,  but  their  bold  utterances  deter 
mined  a  majority  to  put  the  repeal  on  the  ground 
of  expediency,  and  to  declare  explicitly  that  the 


PRACTICE  IN  THE   GENERAL  COURT.      109 

King  aiid  Parliment,  "  had,  hath,  and  of  right  ought 
to  have,  full  power  and  authority  to  make  laws  and 
statutes,  of  sufficient  force  and  validity  to  bind  the 
colonies  and  people  of  America,  subjects  of  the 
Crown  of  Great  Britain,  in  all  cases  whatever." 

Mr.  Henry  had  very  quietly  returned  to  his  home 
and  his  profession,  after  a  ten  days'  service  in  the 
Assembly,  which  in  its  far-reaching  results  was  in 
calculable.  He  had  raised  the  standard  of  resistance 
to  British  power  exercised  for  the  destruction  of 
American  rights,  and  he  saw  the  thirteen  colonies 
rally  around  it.  He  was  soon  to  realize  that  he  had 
given  the  initial  impulse  to  the  American  Revolu 
tion,  the  great  event  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  feelings  with  which  he  had  made  this  bold 
stand  for  the  liberties  of  America  may  be  learned 
in  his  own  words,  as  reported  by  his  friend  Judge 
Tyler  to  Mr.  Wirt.1  Judge  Tyler  wrote  : 

"  In  a  conversation  with  him  once  at  his  own 
house,  upon  his  first  essay  into  the  political  world, 
I  asked  him  how  he  ventured  to  lift  his  voice 
against  so  terrible  a  junto  as  that  he  had  to  oppose, 
when  he  first  stirred  the  country  to  assert  its 
political  rights.  His  reply  was,  that  he  was  con 
vinced  of  the  rectitude  of  the  cause  and  his  own 
views,  and  that  although  he  well  knew  that  many 
a  just  cause  had  been  lost,  and  for  wise  purposes 
Providence  might  not  interfere  for  its  safety,  yet  he 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  great  extent  of  our 
back  country,  which  would  always  afford  him  a 
safe  retreat  from  tyranny,  but  he  was  always  satisfied 
that  a  united  sentiment  and  sound  patriotism,  would 
carry  us  safely  to  the  wished  for  port,  and  if  the 

1  MS.  Letter. 


110  PATRICK   HENRY. 

people  would  not  die  or  be  free,  it  was  of  no  conse 
quence  what  sort  of  government  they  lived  under." 

The  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  was  signed  by  the 
King,  March  18,  1766,  and  caused  a  burst  of  joy  in 
England.  The  ships  in  the  Thames  displayed  their 
colors,  and  the  streets  of  London  were  illuminated ; 
the  King  was  cheered  by  the  multitude,  and  Pitt 
received  an  ovation.  In  America  the  whole  con 
tinent  exhibited  one  continued  scene  of  joy  and 
gratitude.  Loyal  addresses  were  voted  by  the 
Assemblies,  expressing  dependence  on  the  Crown, 
reverence  for  Parliament,  and  devotion  to  the 
constitution.  The  Sons  of  Liberty  dissolved  their 
association,  and  the  people  anticipated  the  con 
tinuance  of  a  happy  and  prosperous  union  with 
England.  Some  of  the  more  thoughtful  saw,  in  the 
reiterated  claim  of  Parliament  to  unlimited  power 
over  the  colonies,  the  fountain  of  future  trouble ; 
but  the  masses  believed  it  to  be  a  mere  political 
abstraction,  which  would  never  again  become  a 
practical  question. 

In  Virginia  the  joy  of  the  people  was  overflowing. 
In  Norfolk  and  Williamsburg  there  were  balls  and 
illuminations,  and  everywhere  the  people  exhibited 
their  delight  at  their  happy  deliverance. 

The  new  Assembly  met  November  6,  and  was 
composed  of  the  most  ardent  of  the  patriots.  The 
old  members  who  had  supported  Mr.  Henry's 
resolutions  were  returned,  when  willing  to  serve, 
and  those  who  had  opposed  them  had  fallen  into 
the  popular  current,  or  lost  their  seats.  John  Rob 
inson  having  died,  Peyton  Randolph  was  elected 
Speaker,  and  expected  to  fill  the  office  of  Treasurer 


PRACTICE   IN  THE   GENERAL   COURT.      Ill 

as  well,  which  had  been  temporarily  filled  by  Robert 
Carter  Nicholas,  the  appointee  of  the  Governor. 

Upon  the  assembling  of  the  House  a  bill  was 
introduced  and  passed  for  erecting  a  statue  to  the 
King,  and  an  obelisk  to  commemorate  the  worthy 
patriots  who  had  contributed  to  the  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act.  A  new  county,  set  off  from  Halifax, 
was  named  Pittsylvania,  in  honor  of  Pitt,  and  its 
parish  in  honor  of  Caniden.  The  addresses  voted 
to  the  King  and  Parliament  were  not  behind  those 
of  the  other  colonies,  in  expressions  of  loyalty  and 
attachment. 

An  investigation  of  the  accounts  of  the  old 
Speaker  was  ordered,  which  revealed  a  large  deficit 
caused  by  loans  to  his  friends,  which  was  afterwards 
replaced  by  the  sale  of  his  large  estate.  Richard 
Henry  Lee  brought  forward  a  bill  for  the  division 
of  the  offices  of  Speaker  and  Treasurer,  which 
caused  a  warm  and  bitter  contest.  The  friends  of 
the  Speaker,  led  by  Edmund  Pendleton,  stoutly  op 
posed  it,  and  Mr.  Henry  warmly  supported  it.  The 
bill  was  passed,  and  a  salary  was  affixed  to  the 
office  of  Speaker  to  maintain  its  dignity.  The  result 
greatly  aided  the  patriot  cause  in  after  years,  as  it 
made  the  Speaker  more  the  servant  of  the  House. 
The  animosities  engendered  in  the  contest,  however, 
lasted  for  years,  and  were  shown  in  the  conduct  of 
the  defeated  party  toward  both  Lee  and  Henry  on 
more  than  one  occasion.  While  some  others  looked 
on  him  with  jealous  eyes,  Mr.  Henry  gained  the 
ardent  and  lasting  friendship  of  Lee.  They  were 
now  for  the  first  time  brought  together,  and  mutual 
admiration,  and  coincidence  of  views  on  public 
questions,  soon  made  them  bosom  friends. 


112  PATRICK  HENRY. 

The  Assembly  passed  two  acts  worthy  of  note, 
which,  if  not  moved  by  Mr.  Henry,  certainly  gave 
expression  to  his  views.  One  was  laying  an  addi 
tional  tax  on  the  importation  of  slaves;  and  the 
other  for  the  exemption  of  Quakers  from  military 
service,  a  step  in  the  direction  of  religious  tolera 
tion. 

The  views  of  Mr.  Henry  on  the  important  ques 
tions  of  religious  liberty,  slavery,  and  home  manufac 
tures,  are  indicated  by  a  fragment  of  a  manuscript  in 
his  handwriting  found  with  his  papers,  which  was 
evidently  prepared  about  this  time.  This,  the 
earliest  production  of  his  pen  remaining,  completely 
refutes  the  statement  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Mr. 
Webster,  that  Mr.  Henry  "  could  not  write." l  It  is 
as  follows : 

"  Reprehension  seldom  is  the  duty  of  a  minister. 
A  good  life  is  the  best  lecture.  But  if  it  happens 
that  a  life  is  so  wicked  as  to  become  notoriously 
offensive,  (in  which  case  only  a  minister  is  supposed 
to  make  personal  application,)  such  a  man  ceases  to 
be  popular.  For  I  dare  affirm,  that  vice  never  in 
any  country  was  held  in  reverence  for  its  own  sake, 
and  so  far  as  a  man  is  openly  wicked,  he  is  unpopu 
lar.  If  it  should  be  that  a  dependent  minister,  hav 
ing  incurred  the  displeasure  of  a  powerful  person, 
and  for  doing  his  duty,  should  raise  such  an  opposi 
tion  as  he  could  not  be  able  to  resist,  the  unpreju 
diced  everywhere  would  revere  him  as  a  victim  to 
wicked  intrigues,  and  heap  their  deserved  benefac 
tions  upon  him.  But  I  have  proved  above  that  the 
toleration  proposed  is  the  surest  method  to  give  us 
a  virtuous  clergy.  It  is  the  business  of  a  virtuous 
clergyman  to  censure  vice  in  every  appearance  of 

1  Curtis's  Life  of  Webster,  i.,  Appendix. 


PRACTICE  IN  THE   GENERAL  COURT.      113 

it.     Therefore  under  a  general  toleration  this  duty 
will  be  commonly  attended  to. 

"  Will  anyone  censure  me  as  an  innovator  ?  I  care 
not.  'Tis  prudent  to  adopt  the  policy  of  other 
countrys,  when  experience  shows  it  to  be  wiser  than 
our  own  in  anything.  Most  nations  have  learned 
from  abroad  those  sciences  and  arts  that  embellish 
and  sweeten  human  life.  This  is  the  greatest  ad 
vantage  arising  from  a  social  intercourse  among  na 
tions,  and  keeps  the  civilized  world  cemented  to- 
fither  like  one  great  family.  The  example  of  the 
orthern  Colonys  is  striking.  England  received  the 
manufactures  of  wool,  glasses,  paper,  hats,  etc.,  from 
Flemish  and  French  workmen,  invited  there  under 
the  direction  of  its  wisest  sovereigns.  The  English 
ship-builders  are  allured  to  the  neighboring  states 
by  the  greatest  rewards.  The  best  policyed  coun- 
trys  borrow  improvements  in  the  art  of  war  from 
their  neighbors,  and  under  foreign  generals  have 
been  led  to  victory  and  conquest.  The  period  in 
which  the  present  settlement  of  religion  was  made 
here,  does  no  great  honor  to  the  English  nation. 
Colonys  on  the  continent  have  experienced  a  more 
enlarged  system ;  and  their  growth  and  real  pros 
perity,  are  the  just  encomiums  of  that  policy  from 
which  those  countrys  received  their  happy  constitu 
tions. 

"  I  cannot  do  justice  to  a  subject  so  copious  and 
important  in  a  few  pages.  I  abridge  everything. 
Much  learning  hath  been  displayed  to  show  the  ne 
cessity  of  establishing  one  church  in  England  in  the 
present  form.  But  these  reasonings  do  not  reach 
the  case  of  this  colony ;  and  granting  they  did,  per 
haps  I  could  not  answer  them,  as  I  have  neither 
leisure  nor  abilitys  to  write  a  volume  on  the  sub 
ject. 

"  It  is  out  of  my  province  to  attempt  a  reforma 
tion  in  the  church  ;  nor  should  I  have  meddled  with 


114  PATRICK  HENRY. 

it,  but  I  see  clearly  the  evils  we  feel  can  only  be  re 
dressed  by  the  proposed  alteration.  The  disadvan 
tage  from  the  great  number  of  slaves  may  perhaps 
wear  off,  when  the  present  stock  and  their  descend 
ants  are  scattered  through  the  immense  deserts  in 
the  West.  To  re-export  them  is  now  impracticable, 
and  sorry  I  am  for  it. 

"  If  anyone  doubts  the  truths  asserted  here,  I  be 
seech  him  to  reflect  wherefore  is  it,  that  a  country, 
I  say  the  happy est  for  situation  on  the  continent, 
blest  with  a  soil  producing  not  only  the  necessarys 
but  the  luxurys  of  life ;  full  of  rivers,  havens  and 
inlets,  that  invite  the  visits  of  commerce  for  the 
products  of  industry ;  and  bordered  with  extended 
plains,  that  instead  of  lonely  scattered  huts,  might 
be  covered  with  magnificent  citys ;  wherefore  is  it 
that  a  country  producing  the  choicest  grain,  stock, 
wool,  fish,  hemp,  flax,  metals  of  the  North,  together 
with  the  corn,  pulp,  rice,  wine,  fruits  and  most  of 
those  delicacys  found  in  southern  climes,  should 
want  the  common  conveniencys,  the  necessarys  of 
life.  I  will  not  enumerate  the  good  things  our 
country  may  produce.  Let  me  ask  what  it  will  not 
produce  ?  The  truth  is  anything  but  inhabitants 
sensible  of  its  value. 

"  How  comes  it  that  the  lands  in  Pennsylvania 
are  five  times  the  value  of  ours  ?  Pennsylvania  is 
the  country  of  the  most  extensive  privileges  with 
few  slaves.  A  Dutch,  Irish,  or  Scotch  emigrant 
finds  there  his  religion,  his  priest,  his  language,  his 
manners,  and  everything,  but  that  poverty  and  op 
pression  he  left  at  home.  Take  an  instance  nearer 
to  us.  The  country  beyond  the  mountains  is  settled 
on  a  plan  of  economy  very  different  from  ours. 
Europeans,  instead  of  Africans,  till  the  lands,  and 
manufacture.  The  tax  to  the  established  Church 
is  scarcely  felt.  The  people  brought  their  priests 
with  them.  The  lands  in  some  parts  there  are 


PRACTICE   IN  THE   GENERAL   COURT.      115 

almost  as  dear  as  at  Williamsburgh,  and  notwith 
standing  the  many  disadvantages  arising  from  sit 
uation,  they  are  the  most  flourishing  parts  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  this  in  a  few  years.  Manufacturers  have 
1  them.  By  this  means  they  have  1  the 

money  *  produced. 

"  I  agree  entirely  with  those  who  insist  on  the 
necessity  of  home  manufactures.  We  differ  in  the 
means  of  procuring  them.  To  what  purpose  do  we 
offer  premiums,  when  experience  tells  us  no  one 
will  obtain  them  ?  Common  sense  informs  us  that 
the  first  thing  to  be  thought  of  is  manufacturers. 
The  present  inhabitants  of  the  colony  must  manu 
facture  under  great  disadvantage,  for  the  countrys 
with  whom  we  are  connected  send  continual  supplys 
to  our  doors,  offering  to  take  in  Barter  those  com- 
moditys,  the  culture  of  which  we  understand.  If 
attempts  are  made,  we  find  the  many  difficulties  at 
tending  them  too  great  to  be  conquered.  It  must 
ever  be  so  till  we  have  procured  numbers  of  skilful 
artists.  A  planter  willing  to  go  upon  the  new  plan, 
can't  have  spinners  of  wool  and  flax,  a  tanner,  a 
shoemaker,  a  weaver,  a  fuller,  etc.,  in  his  own  fam 
ily.  He  must  travel  continually  great  distances  to 
find  these  several  people,  and  when  he  hath  found 
them,  they  are  bunglers,  and  extravagant  in  their 
charges.  He  is  rid  of  this  trouble  and  perplexity 
by  going  to  a  store. 

"  But  I  need  not  say  anything  to  prove  the 
great  utility  of  importing  good  artisans.  A  gen 
eral  toleration  of  Religion  appears  to  me  the  best 
means  of  peopling  our  country,  and  enabling  our 
people  to  procure  those  necessarys  among  them 
selves,  the  purchase  of  which  from  abroad  has 
so  nearly  ruined  a  colony,  enjoying,  from  nature 
and  time,  the  means  of  becoming  the  most  pros 
perous  on  the  continent.  Our  country  will  be 

1  Obliterated  in  MS. 


116  PATRICK  HENRY. 

peopled.  The  question  is,  shall  it  be  with  Euro 
peans  or  Africans  ?  To  do  it  with  the  latter  will 
take  many  years;  with  the  former  'tis  quickly 
done.  Is  there  a  man  so  degenerate  as  to  wish  to 
see  his  country  the  gloomy  retreat  of  slaves  ?  No  ; 
while  we  may,  let  us  people  our  lands  with  men 
who  secure  our  internal  peace,  and  make  us  respect 
able  abroad  ;  who  will  contribute  *  influence 
and  stablish  in  posterity  the  benefit  of  the  British 
Constitution. 

"  Tell  me  no  more  of  ideal  wealth.  Away  with 
the  schemes  of  paper  money  and  loan  offices,  cal 
culated  to  feed  extravagance,  and  revive  expiring 
luxury. 

"  To  many  the  observations  above  will  seem  of 
small  weight.  When  I  say  that  the  article  of  re 
ligion  is  deemed  a  trifle  by  our  people  in  the  gen 
eral,  I  assert  a  known  truth.  But  when  we  sup 
pose  that  the  poorer  sort  of  European  emigrants  set 
as  light  by  it,  we  are  greatly  mistaken.  The  free 
exercise  of  religion  hath  stocked  the  Northern  part 
of  the  continent  with  inhabitants;  and  altho'  Eu 
rope  hath  in  great  measure  adopted  a  more  moder 
ate  policy,  yet  the  profession  of  Protestantism  is 
extremely  inconvenient  in  many  places  there.  A 
Calvinist,  a  Lutheran,  or  Quaker,  who  hath  felt 
these  inconveniences  in  Europe,  sails  not  to  Vir 
ginia,  where  they  are  felt  perhaps  in  a  (greater  de- 
gree)." 

This  paper  shows  not  only  that  Mr.  Henry  could 
write,  but  that  he  entertained  the  views  of  a  pro 
found  statesman  as  to  the  duty  of  his  fellow-citizens 
in  shaping  the  destinies  of  the  colony. 

Pleasing  evidence  of  his  liberal  views  is  found  in 
the  diary  of  Rachel  Wilson,  a  Quakeress,  and  the 

1  Obliterated  in  MS. 


PRACTICE  IN  THE  GENERAL  COURT.   117 

grandmother  of  the  celebrated  John  Bright,  who 
made  a  tour  in  Virginia  in  1769.  She  wrote  at 
Williamsburg,  March  31 :  "  We  returned  that 
night  to  Francis  Clark's.  Called  by  the  way  to  see 
one  of  the  Assemblymen,  who  was  a  man  of  great 
moderation,  and  had  appeared  in  Friends'  favour ; 
his  name  was  Patrick  Henry.  He  received  us  with 
great  civility,  and  made  some  sensible  remarks.  We 
had  an  open  time  in  the  family." 

Mr.  Henry  found  abundant  opposition,  however, 
among  the  old  leaders  to  his  views  on  religious  lib 
erty.  Among  the  Dissenters  who  appeared  in  the 
colony  the  Baptists  commenced  to  attract  attention 
at  this  period.  Their  great  earnestness  and  zeal 
in  proclaiming  the  gospel  as  they  understood  it,  ex 
cited  the  bitter  hostility  of  many  of  the  Established 
Church,  and  in  the  year  1768  a  regular  persecution 
was  commenced  in  some  of  the  counties  against 
them,  by  arresting  their  preachers,  as  disturbers  of 
the  peace  who  refused  to  submit  to  the  requirements 
of  the  Toleration  Act.  Edmund  Pendleton  and 
Archibald  Cary,  in  their  respective  counties,  were 
active  in  this  movement. 

Semple,  who  knew  personally  some  of  the  minis 
ters  who  thus  suffered  imprisonment,  has  recorded 
the  obligations  of  his  denomination  to  Mr.  Henry  in 
their  day  of  trial.  He  relates,  in  his  "  History  of 
the  Baptists  in  Virginia,"  their  attempts  to  obtain 
liberty  of  speech  at  the  hands  of  the  magistrates, 
and  adds : * 

"  It  was  in  making  these  attempts  that  they  were 
so  fortunate  as  to  interest  in  their  behalf  the  cele- 

1  P.  24. 


118  PATRICK  HENRY. 

brated  Patrick  Henry ;  being  always  a  friend  of 
liberty,  he  only  needed  to  be  informed  of  their  op 
pression  ;  without  hesitation  he  stepped  forward  to 
their  relief.  From  that  time,  until  the  day  of  their 
complete  emancipation  from  the  shackles  of  ty 
ranny,  the  Baptist  found  in  Patrick  Henry  an  un 
wavering  friend.  May  his  name  descend  to  pos 
terity  with  unsullied  honor  ! " 

A  characteristic  incident  of  the  times,  and  of  Mr. 
Henry,  was  preserved  and  related  by  Rev.  John 
Weatherford,  one  of  the  Baptist  ministers.  He 
was  imprisoned  for  five  months  in  the  jail  of 
Chesterfield,1  of  which  county  Colonel  Archibald 
Gary  was  the  presiding  magistrate,  on  the  charge  of 
creating  a  disturbance  by  preaching.  By  the  aid  of 
Mr.  Henry  he  obtained  an  order  of  liberation.  But 
the  jailer  refused  to  release  him  until  the  jail  fees 
were  paid,  which  from  the  length  of  his  imprison 
ment  were  a  considerable  sum,  much  larger  than  the 
poor  minister  could  pay.  He  was  therefore  forced 
to  remain  in  prison.  Not  long  afterward  he  was 
informed  that  some  one,  whose  name  was  con 
cealed,  had  paid  the  charges,  and  he  was  set  at 
liberty.  With  a  thankful  heart  he  walked  out 
of  the  prison.  More  than  twenty  years  after 
ward,  upon  the  removal  of  Mr.  Henry  to  Char 
lotte  County,  he  became  a  neighbor  of  Mr.  Weather- 
ford,  who  was  then  the  pastor  of  a  church  near 
by,  and  in  recounting  their  early  experiences  in 
the  struggles  for  civil  and  religious  liberty  Mr. 
Weatherford  learned  for  the  first  time,  that  Mr. 
Henry  had  paid  for  him  the  fees  demanded  by  the 

1  Taylor's  Baptist  Ministers.     First  Series. 


PRACTICE   IN   THE   GENERAL   COURT.      119 

Chesterfield  jailer.1  It  need  hardly  be  added,  as 
stated  by  his  biographer,  that  he  never  spoke  of 
Mr.  Henry  but  Math  a  glow  of  affection. 

Rev.  John  "Waller,  with  other  Baptist  ministers, 
were  imprisoned  in  Caroline  County  for  preaching, 
as  we  are  told  by  Semple ;  and  it  was  doubtless  in 
reference  to  them  that  the  following  statement  was 
made  by  Judge  Spencer  Roane,  in  his  letter  to  Mr. 
Wirt,  in  which  he  said :  "  Mr.  Pendleton,  on  the 
bench  of  Caroline  court,  justified  the  imprisonment 
of  several  Baptist  preachers,  who  were  defended  by 
Mr.  Henry,  on  the  heinous  charge  of  worshipping- 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  con 


sciences." 


Mr.  Waller,  Lewis  Craig,  and  James  Childs  were 
subjected  to  the  first  of  these  imprisonments  in 
Spottsylvania  County  in  1768,  and  it  is  quite 
certain  that  Mr.  Henry  appeared  there  in  their  de 
fence,  but  the  speech  attributed  to  him  on  the 
occasion  was  made  up  in  after  years  from  doubtful 
traditions.3 

By  the  unerring  record  of  his  fee  books  we  are 
able  to  mark  Mr.  Henry's  success  and  industry  as  a 
lawyer.  In  1764  he  charged  five  hundred  and  fifty- 
five  fees;  in  1765,  five  hundred  and  fifty-seven;  in 
1766,  when  the  colony  was  under  great  political 
excitement,  his  fees  fell  off  to  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  ;  in  1767  they  reached  five  hundred  and 
fifty-four,  and  then  the  renewal  of  the  trouble  with 

1  This  incident  was  related  by  Mr.  Weatherford  to  Colonel  James  P. 
Marshall,  of  Charlotte,  the  father-in-law  of  the  author.  Colonel  Marshall 
died  in  December,  1883,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two. 

3  MS. 

3  Foote :  Sketches  of  Virginia,  317.  This  matter  is  discussed  in  "  The 
Religious  Herald"  of  Richmond,  Va.}  February  23,  1871. 


120  PATRICK  HENRY. 

England  reduced  his  business,  until  finally,  in  1774, 
the  courts  were  closed.  Thus  he  charged  in  1769 
one  hundred  and  thirty -two  fees;  in  1770,  ninety- 
four;  in  1771,  one  hundred  and  two;  in  1772, 
forty-three;  in  1773,  seven;  and  in  1774,  none. 
The  fees  in  criminal  cases  are  not  noted  on  these 
books,  and  were  additional.  The  fees  charged 
were  the  moderate  ones  of  that  period,  and  after 
allowing  for  the  greater  value  of  money,  it  is  still 
obvious  that  it  required  great  economy  and  good 
management  to  provide  comfortably  for  his  growing 
family.  This  he  did,  and  in  addition  was  able  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  a  comfortable  estate.  Such 
a  practice  demonstrates  his  industry,  business  capac 
ity,  and  legal  acquirement. 

In  1764  he  commenced  to  loan  money  to  his 
father,  and  in  1767  to  his  father-in-law.  With  the 
loans  to  his  father  he  bought  the  "Roundabout" 
tract  in  Louisa,  and  with  the  loans  to  Mr.  Shelton 
he  bought  3,335  acres  of  western  lands. 

The  following  memorandum  found  on  Mr.  Henry's 
fee  book,  opposite  to  his  account  of  charges  against 
Mr.  John  Shelton,  is  of  interest : 

"  N.  B. — Three  tracts  of  Jno.  Shelton's  land  in 
cluded  in  his  mortgage  to  me  were  given  up  to  me 
by  a  writing  recorded  in  Augusta  court,  whereby 
he  released  his  equity  of  redemption  in  1,400  acres 
on  Mockison  Creek,  940  on  Holson  river,  and  995 
on  Holson  river,  and  the  other  three  tracts  I  am 
willing  to  release  to  him.  At  first  J.  Shelton  em 
ployed  me  to  sell  the  whole  for  him  in  the  spring 
of  1766,  when  I  advertised  it  at  several  public 
places  in  Staunton,  &  got  Capt.  Wm.  Fleming's  as 
sistance  in  the  sale,  as  he  lived  toward  that 


PRACTICE  IN  THE  GENERAL  COURT.   121 

quarter.  The  utmost  that  was  offered  for  the 
whole  was  £9  or  £10  per  hundred  for  that  tract  by 
Davis's.  So  it  continued,  and  would  not  sell  toler 
ably  till  1768.  Mr.  Shelton  being  greatly  distressed 
for  money  by  Jos.  Crenshaw,  and  many  others, 
and  his  estate  like  to  be  seized  and  sold  for  a 
trifle,  I  resolved  to  advance  some  money,  as  charged 
here  for  him,  and  to  purchase  3,335  acres  of  it. 
The  land  was  long  since  lost  for  nonpayment  of 
quitrents,  and  except  one  tract  of  it,  had  not  been 
seen  since  it  was  surveyed  (viz.,  about  20  years). 
I  made  a  journey  thither  in  company  with  Wm. 
Henry,  Wm.  Christian,  &c.  &c.,  to  search  for  it, 
but  could  find  one  tract  only.  The  land  &  ne 
groes  that  Mr.  Shelton  obliged  himself  to  give  me 
on  marriage,  were  10  negroes,  &  400  acres  land 
joining  him  in  Hanover.  He  gave  me  only  six 
negroes,  and  300  acres  of  land.  The  deficiency  will 
greatly  overbalance  any  claim  against  me.  The 
said  land  and  all  the  country  adjacent  was  allotted 
to  the  Indians  by  a  treaty,  and  a  line  agreed  upon 
from  Chiswell's  mines  to  the  mouth  of  New  River, 
which  would  have  cut  off  the  said  lands  on  Holson 
and  Clinch,  and  under  that  risque  I  purchased  it, 
hoping  that  line  would  be  altered.  After  many 
contests  and  much  altercation  with  the  Indians,  our 
own  people,  government  here,  and  administration  at 
home,  an  extension  of  territory  was  purchased  from 
the  Indians,  and  the  lands  above  were  taken  into 
this  Colony,  except  part  of  one  tract  which  the  line 
split." 

Amono;  the  debits  on  the  account  with  Mr.  Shel- 

o 

ton  is  the  following  :  "  1764.  To  1  tract  of  land  in 
Hanover  co'ty  called  Piney  Slash,  sold  .£350," 
which  shows  that  he  sold  his  Hanover  tract  to  raise 
part  of  the  money  furnished  Mr.  Shelton.  Will 
iam  Henry,  mentioned  in  the  above,  was  his 


122  PATRICK   HENRY. 

brother,  and  William  Christian  was  his  brother-in- 
law.  The  latter  was  the  son  of  Israel  Christian,  a 
merchant  in  Staunton,  and  a  client  of  Mr.  Henry. 
Before  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  William  Christian 
had  risen  to  the  rank  of  captain  in  the  Second  Vir 
ginia  Regiment,  commanded  by  Col.  William  Byrd 
during  the  French  war.  Some  years  after  its 
close,  probably  about  the  year  1767,  he  had  entered 
the  office  of  Mr.  Henry  as  a  law  student.1  Here  he 
greatly  endeared  himself  to  him  by  his  manly  char 
acter  and  fine  sense.  But  he  not  only  won  the 
lasting  regard  of  his  instructor,  he  also  won  the  af 
fections  of  Mr.  Henry's  favorite  sister,  Anne,  as  the 
following  extract  of  a  letter  from  Colonel  John 
Henry  to  his  father  relates : 

"  HANOVER,  JAN'Y  12th,  1768.2 

"  Your  son  has  for  some  time  been  making  his  ad 
dresses  to  one  of  my  daughters.  I  find  the  match 
is  as  good  as  concluded.  It  seems  to  depend  chiefly 
on  you — for  as  I  can  at  present  do  nothing  worth 
mentioning,  and  he  has  not  much  in  possession.  I 
should  be  pleased  to  know  what  you  can  do  for 
him.  At  my  wife's  death,  and  mine,  there  will  be 
some  considerable  estate  to  be  divided  among  my 
daughters ;  but  it  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  must 
be  kept  together  for  our  support.  My  wife  joins 
with  me  in  our  kind  complemta  to  you  &  Mrs. 
Christian.  I  am, 

"Sir, 
"  Your  most  h'ble  servant, 

"  JOHN  HENRY. 
"To  ISAAC  CHRISTIAN,  ESQ." 

1  Life  and  Times  of  Caleb  Wallace,  74. 

9  In  the  copy  of  the  letter  sent  me  the  date  is  1728,     Bat  this  is  clearly 
a  mistake,  and  the  date  is  doubtless  as  above. 


PRACTICE   IN  THE   GENERAL   COURT.      123 

Colonel  John  Henry  was  at  this  time  engaged  in 
preparing  a  map  of  Virginia,  which  he  published  in 
London  in  1770  at  considerable  cost.1  He  applied 
to  the  Assembly  of  his  State  more  than  once  for  aid 
in  his  enterprise,  but  failed  to  obtain  it,  and  finally 
sold  his  rights  in  the  publication  to  his  son  Pat 
rick,  on  May  19,  1770.  He  also  conducted  a  clas 
sical  school  in  his  house,  by  which  he  aided  in  the 
support  of  his  family. 

In  the  year  1765  Mr.  Henry  moved  to  his  place 
in  Louisa  County,  where  he  resided  till  the  year 
1768,  when  he  returned  to  Hanover. 

Having  met  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly  some  of 
the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  colony,  and  found  himself 
more  than  a  match  for  them  in  debate,  he  was 
brought  into  contact  with  all  the  leaders  of  the  pro 
fession  in  the  year  1769,  by  coming  to  the  bar  of 
the  General  Court.  Here  he  met  Mr.  Pendleton, 
John  Randolph,  the  Attorney-General,  Mr.  Wythe, 
Mr.  Nicholas,  Mr.  Mercer,  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  Mr. 
Thompson  Mason.  All  were  men  of  eminence  in 
their  profession.  In  describing  him  at  this  period, 
Judge  Edmund  Winston,  who  read  law  with  him, 
says  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Wirt :  "  It  will  perhaps  be 
admitted  that  in  reasoning  on  general  principles  he 
did  not  lose  in  comparison  with  any  man,  and  I 
never  heard  that  he  betrayed  a  want  of  legal  knowl 
edge.  It  will  naturally  be  asked,  How  was  this 
possible  ?  To  which  I  can  only  answer,  that  without 
much  labor  he  acquired  that  information  which  in 
the  case  of  other  men  is  the  result  of  painful  re 
search."  And  Judge  Spencer  Roane,  his  son-in-law, 

1  A  copy  of  this  map  was  in  existence  in  Warrenton,  Va.,  when 
Charles  Campbell  wrote  his  History  of  Virginia.  See  p.  521. 


124  PATRICK  HENRY. 

noted  the  passage  with  the  following  words :  "  I 
believe  this  to  have  been  entirely  the  case."  Judge 
Winston  adds :  "  I  have  been  told  in  Mr.  Henry's 
family,  that  he  employed  a  considerable  part  of  his 
time  in  reading ;  his  library,  however,  except  his  law 
books,  seems  not  to  have  been  very  well  chosen,  and 
it  is,  I  believe,  impossible  to  point  out  by  what 
course  of  study  he  attained  that  intellectual  excel 
lence  which  he  certainly  possessed."  Judge  Roane 
says  of  his  library  later  in  life,  "  It  consisted  some 
times  of  odd  volumes,1  etc.,  but  of  good  books." 
And  the  catalogue  of  his  books  given  in  by  his  exe 
cutors  proves  this  to  be  true.  Mr.  Henry  seems  to 
have  followed,  as  regards  books,  the  maxim,  non 
multa  sed  muttum. 

After  coming  to  the  bar  of  the  General  Court,  he 
added  to  his  reputation  as  a  lawyer  by  his  appear 
ance,  in  a  case  in  Admiralty,  as  counsel  for  the  cap- 
•tain  of  a  Spanish  vessel  which,  with  its  cargo,  had 
been  libelled  under  the  oppressive  Navigation  Act. 
After  the  trial,  William  Nelson,  one  of  the  Court, 
declared  that  he  had  never  heard  a  more  eloquent 
or  argumentative  speech  than  Mr.  Henry's  ;  that  he 
considered  him  greatly  superior  to  Mr.  Pendleton, 
Mr.  Mason,  or  any  other  counsel  who  argued  the 
cause,  and  that  he  was  astonished  to  find  him  so 
thoroughly  familiar  with  maritime  law,  to  which  he 
believed  he  had  never  paid  any  attention  before.2 

His  attainments  and  fidelity  as  a  lawyer  received 
the  highest  testimonial  in  1773,  when  Mr.  Robert 
Carter  Nicholas,  who  had  enjoyed  the  first  practice 
at  the  bar,  and  whose  engagements  as  treasurer 

1  Doubtless  the  result  of  frequent  changes  of  residence. 

2  MS.  Statement  of  Captain  George  Dabney  to  Mr.  Wirt. 


PRACTICE   IN  THE   GENERAL   COURT.      125 

forced  him  to  relinquish  it,  committed  his  unfin 
ished  business  to  Mr.  Henry  by  a  public  advertise 
ment. 

But  while  Mr.  Henry  had  advanced  to  the  fore 
most  rank  in  his  profession  when  he  became  a  prac 
titioner  in  the  General  Court,  the  evidence  of  his 
contemporaries  is  that  he  was  most  distinguished, 
and  therefore  most  sought  after,  in  jury  trials.  His 
power  over  juries  was  something  wonderful,  and  as 
a  criminal  lawyer  he  had  no  equal.  Mr.  Wirt  has 
described  his  mode  of  defending  criminals  in  lan 
guage  which  will  not  be  considered  overdrawn,  when 
we  come  to  read  the  testimonies  of  eye-witnesses  at 
a  later  period  of  his  life.1  He  says,  in  summing  up  : 

"  In  short,  he  understood  the  human  character  so 
perfectly ;  knew  so  well  all  its  strength  and  all  its 
weakness,  together  with  every  path  and  by-way 
which  winds  around  to  the  citadel  of  the  best  forti 
fied  heart  and  mind,  that  he  never  failed  to  take 
them,  either  by  stratagem  or  storm.  Hence  he  was, 
beyond  doubt,  the  ablest  defender  of  criminals  in 
Virginia,  and  will  probably  never  be  equalled 
again." 

Mr.  Henry's  appearance  and  manner  in  the  Gen 
eral  Court  were  described  by  Judge  St.  George 
Tucker,  who  first  saw  him  in  1772,  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Wirt.  Young  Tucker  was  then  between  nine 
teen  and  twenty,  and  a  student  at  the  college  in 
"Williamsburg.  He  says : 

"  The  General  Court  met  in  April.  Mr.  Henry 
practised  as  a  lawyer  in  it.  I  attended  very  fre- 

1  Wirt's  Henry,  93-94. 


126  PATRICK   HENRY. 

quently  ;  generally  sat  near  the  clerk's  table,  directly 
opposite  to  the  bar.  I  had  now  for  the  first  time  a 
near  view  of  Mr.  Henry's  face.  He  wore  a  black 
suit  of  clothes  and  (as  was  the  custom  of  the  bar 
then)  a  tie-wig,  such  as  Mr.  Pendleton  wore  till  his 
death.  His  appearance  was  greatly  improved  by 
these  adventitious  circumstances.  His  visage  was 
long,  thin,  but  not  sharp,  dark,  without  any  appear 
ance  of  blood  in  his  cheeks,  somewhat  inclining  to 
sallowness ;  his  profile  was  of  the  Roman  cast, 
though  his  nose  was  rather  long  than  high,  his  fore 
head  high  and  straight,  but  forming  a  considerable 
angle  with  the  nose ;  his  eyebrows  dark,  long,  and 
full ;  his  eyes  a  dark  gray,  not  large,  penetrating, 
deep-set  in  his  head  ;  his  eyelashes  long  and  black, 
which,  with  the  color  of  his  eyebrows,  made  his 
eyes  appear  almost  black ;  a  superficial  view  would 
indeed  make  it  be  supposed  they  were  perfectly 
black  ;  his  nose  was  of  the  Roman  stamp,  as  I  have 
already  said ;  his  cheekbones  rather  high,  but  not 
like  a  Scots-man's ;  they  were  neither  as  large,  as 
near  the  eyes,  nor  as  far  apart  as  is  the  natives'  of 
Scotland  ;  his  cheeks  hollow ;  his  chin  long  but 
well-formed,  and  rounded  at  the  end,  so  as  to  form 
a  proper  counterpart  to  the  upper  part  of  his  face. 
I  find  it  difficult  to  describe  his  mouth,  in  which 
there  was  nothing  remarkable,  except  when  about 
to  express  a  modest  dissent  from  some  opinion  upon 
which  he  was  commenting ;  he  then  had  a  half  sort 
of  smile,  in  which  the  want  of  conviction  was,  per 
haps,  more  strongly  expressed  than  that  cynical  or 
satirical  emotion  which  probably  prompted  it.  His 
manner  and  address  to  the  court  and  jury  might  be 
deemed  the  excess  of  humility,  diffidence,  and  mod 
esty.  If,  as  rarely  happened,  he  had  occasion  to 
answer  any  remark  from  the  bench,  it  was  impossi 
ble  for  meekness  herself  to  assume  a  manner  less 
presumptuous ;  but  in  the  smile,  of  which  I  have 


PRACTICE  IN  THE   GENERAL   COURT.      127 

been  speaking,  you  might  anticipate  the  want  of 
conviction  expressed  in  his  answers,  at  the  moment 
that  he  submitted  to  the  *  superior  wisdom '  of  the 
court,  with  a  grace  that  would  have  done  honour  to 
the  most  polished  courtier  in  Westminster  Hall.  In 
his  reply  to  counsel,  his  remarks  on  the  evidence, 
and  on  the  conduct  of  the  parties,  he  preserved  the 
same  distinguished  deference  and  politeness,  still 
accompanied  by  the  never-failing  index  of  this 
sceptical  smile  when  the  occasion  prompted.  His 
manner  was  solemn  and  impressive;  his  voice, 
neither  remarkable  for  its  pleasing  tones,  or  the 
variety  of  its  cadence,  nor  for  harshness.  If  it  was 
never  melodious  (as  I  rather  think),  it  was  never, 
however  raised,  harsh.  It  was  clear,  distinct,  and 
capable  of  that  emphasis  which  I  incline  to  be 
lieve  constituted  one  of  the  greatest  charms  in 
Mr.  Henry's  manner.  His  countenance  was  grave 
(even  when  clothed  with  the  half  smile  I  have 
mentioned),  penetrating,  and  marked  with  the 
strong  lineaments  of  deep  reflection.  When  speak 
ing  in  public,  he  never  (even  on  occasions  when  he 
excited  it  in  others)  had  anything  like  pleasantry 
in  his  countenance,  his  manner,  or  the  tone  of  his 
voice.  You  would  swear  he  had  never  uttered  or 
laughed  at  a  joke.  In  short,  in  debate  either  at  the 
bar  or  elsewhere,  his  manner  was  so  earnest  and  im 
pressive,  united  with  a  contraction  or  knitting  of 
his  brows  which  appeared  habitual,  as  to  give  to 
his  countenance  a  severity  sometimes  bordering 
upon  the  appearance  of  anger  or  contempt  sup 
pressed,  while  his  language  and  gesture  exhibited 
nothing  but  what  was  perfectly  decorous.  He  was 
emphatic,  without  vehemence  or  declamation;  ani 
mated,  but  never  boisterous ;  nervous,  without  re 
course  to  intemperate  language ;  and  clear,  though 
not  always  methodical."  * 

1  MS.  Letter  to  Mr.  Wirt  in  1805. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BENEWED  TKOUBLES  WITH  ENGLAND— 1766-1773. 

Determination  of  British  Government  to  Exercise  the  Eight  of  Tax 
ation  in  the  Colonies. — Billeting  Bill,  and  Port  Duties  on  Wine, 
Oil,  etc. — Discussion  of  American  Bights  by  Able  Writers 
through  the  Press. — Letter  of  Massachusetts  Assembly  in  1768 
to  the  Colonies  on  their  Bights,  drawn  by  Samuel  Adams. — The 
Action  of  the  Virginia  Assembly. — Mr.  Henry  as  a  Leader. — 
Address  of  Parliament  to  King  Concerning  Trial  of  Americans 
in  England. — Attempts  to  Separate  other  Colonies  from  Massa 
chusetts. — Virginia  Determines  to  Make  Common  Cause  with 
Her.— Non-importation  Agreement  Entered  into  by  Virginians 
and  other  Colonists. — Difficulties  of  the  Ministry,  and  Determi 
nation  to  Bepeal  Duty  Act,  Except  as  to  Tea. — Popularity  of 
Lord  Botetourt  as  Governor. — Indian  Troubles. — Proposed 
Lines  between  the  Whites  and  the  Indians. — Agreement  not  to 
Use  Tea,  and  Committees  in  Counties  to  Enforce  Agreement. 
— Mr.  Henry  as  a  Committee  Man. — Death  of  Lord  Botetourt. — 
Lord  Dunmore  Succeeds  Him  as  Governor. — New  Assembly. — 
Protests  against  Slave  Trade.— Mr.  Henry  on  Slavery. 

THE  joy  of  the  Colonies,  at  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  was  soon  dampened,  by  the  discovery  of  a  per 
sistent  determination  on  the  part  of  the  British 
Government  to  exercise  the  contested  right  of  taxa 
tion.  The  King  soon  repented  of  having  signed  the 
repealing  Act,  which  he  regarded  as  a  fatal  com 
pliance  with  the  popular  demand,  and  he  deter 
mined  to  uphold  the  claim  of  absolute  authority 
over  the  colonies  at  all  hazards.  The  intelligence 
of  the  repeal  was  accompanied  with  a  direction  to 
the  Governors  to  recommend  to  the  legislatures  in 
demnity  to  all  sufferers  by  the  late  riots.  The  leg- 


RENEWED   TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.     129 

islatures  were  also  required  to  support  the  British 
soldiers  which  might  be  quartered  in  the  several 
colonies,  and  as  New  York  was  their  headquarters, 
the  legislature  of  that  colony  was  the  first  to  feel 
the  oppression  of  the  Billeting  Act. 

These  matters  were  irritating,  but  were  managed 
with  discretion  by  the  assemblies,  which  based 
whatever  action  they  took,  not  on  the  requirements 
of  Parliament,  but  on  their  own  right  to  grant  what 
to  them  seemed  best. 

The  Rockingham  ministry  ended  its  brief  exist 
ence  in  July,  1766,  and  was  succeeded  by  one  formed 
by  Pitt,  in  which  he  only  reserved  to  himself  the 
custody  of  the  privy  seal,  being  aware  of  the  fae-t 
that  his  inveterate  enemy,  the  gout,  prevented  his 
engaging  in  laborious  duties.  He  was  raised  to  the 
peerage  with  the  title  of  Earl  of  Chatham,  and  ex 
changed  his  leadership  in  the  House  of  Commons 
for  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords.  By  December  his 
health  had  become  so  shattered  that  he  left  London 
for  Bath  in  a  state  of  nervous  prostration ;  and  the 
affairs  of  America,  during  the  existence  of  a  minis 
try  pledged  to  the  liberal  principles  which  caused 
the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  fell  under  the  control 
of  a  member  who  was  fully  determined  to  main 
tain  the  principles  of  that  Act.  On  January  26, 
1767,  Charles  Townshend,  Chancellor  of  the  Exche 
quer,  taking  advantage  of  Chatham's  absence,  de 
clared  in  the  House,  that  he  knew  the  mode  by  which 
a  revenue  might  be  drawn  from  America  without  of 
fence.  "  1  am  still,"  he  continued,  "  a  firm  advocate 
for  the  Stamp  Act,  for  its  principle  and  for  the  duty 
itself ;  only  the  heats  which  prevailed  made  it  an  im 
proper  time  to  pass  it.  I  laugh  at  the  absurd  dis- 


130  PATRICK  HENRY. 

tinction  between  internal  and  external  taxes.  I 
know  no  such  distinction.  It  is  a  distinction  with 
out  a  difference ;  it  is  perfect  nonsense ;  if  we  have 
a  right  to  impose  the  one,  we  have  a  right  to  impose 
the  other ;  the  distinction  is  ridiculous  in  the  opin 
ion  of  everybody,  except  the  Americans."  And 
looking  up  to  the  gallery  where  the  colonial  agents 
usually  sat,  he  added,  "  I  speak  this  aloud,  that  all 
you  who  are  in  the  galleries  may  hear  me;  and 
after  this,  I  do  not  expect  to  have  my  statue  erected 
in  America."  Then  laying  his  hand  on  the  table  in 
front  of  him,  he  added,  "  England  is  undone,  if  this 
taxation  is  given  up." 

Finding  that  his  speech  was  received  with  general 
applause,  Townshend  was  enabled  to  browbeat  the 
members  of  the  ministry  in  London.  Chatham  at 
tempted  to  have  him  removed,  but  before  accom 
plishing  his  purpose  he  was  taken  so  ill  that  he  was 
forced  to  withdraw  from  public  business,  and  like 
the  sick  lion  in  the  fable,  to  suffer  in  his  retirement 
the  insults  of  those  who  once  trembled  at  the  sound 
of  his  voice. 

On  May  13,  1767,  Townshend  proposed  in  the 
House,  that  the  Assembly  of  New  York  be  prohib 
ited  from  further  legislation  until  they  had  com 
plied  fully  with  the  requirements  of  the  Billeting 
Act ;  and  that  port  duties,  collectible  in  America, 
be  laid  on  wine,  oil,  fruits,  glass,  paper,  lead,  col 
ors,  and  tea.  In  the  debates  which  followed, 
Thomas  Pownall,  who  had  been  successively  Gover 
nor  of  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina,  and  Ed 
mund  Burke,  who  had  been  a  clerk  in  the  Colonial 
Office,  both  fully  conversant  with  the  temper  of  the 
Colonies,  warned  the  House  that  they  would  not 


RENEWED   TROUBLES  WITH  ENGLAND.     131 

submit  to  be  taxed  by  Parliament.  But  it  was 
known  that  the  King  favored  the  measures,  and  it 
was  deliberately  determined  to  continue  the  contest 
until  the  authority  of  Parliament  was  firmly  estab 
lished,  and  the  landed  interest  in  England  was  in  a 
measure  relieved  of  the  burden  of  taxation.  Both 
measures  were  adopted.  The  Act  imposing  duties 
was  to  take  effect  November  20,  1767,  and  to  be  en 
forced  by  the  King  through  a  board  of  trade  of  his 
own  appointment,  who  were  to  reside  in  the  Colon 
ies,  and  to  act  as  he  might  direct.  His  commission 
armed  this  board  with  a  power  of  search  and  seiz 
ure  at  their  discretion,  with  authority  to  call  upon 
the  naval  and  military  forces  within  the  Colonies 
for  aid,  and  with  an  exemption  from  prosecution  or 
responsibility  before  any  of  the  King's  courts  for 
whatever  they  might  do  by  any  construction  of  their 
commission.  The  tyranny  of  the  two  measures 
could  hardly  be  surpassed. 

The  brilliant  and  erratic  career  of  Townshend 
was  cut  short  bj  death  before  the  Duty  Act  took 
effect.  Lord  North  succeeded  him  as  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer,  and  the  Earl  of  Hillsborough  was 
made  Secretary  for  the  Colonies. 

In  the  meantime,  the  people  of  America  had 
become  well  informed  as  to  the  principles  of  the 
controversy  with  Great  Britain.  Able  writers  com 
manded  public  attention  through  the  press,  and  dis 
cussed  American  rights  from  every  conceivable  point 
of  view.  Among  these  writers  there  should  be  men 
tioned  Richard  Bland,  of  Virginia,  who  published 
"  An  Inquiry  into  the  Rights  of  the  British  Colo 
nies  "  in  1766,  pronounced  by  Mr.  Jefferson  to  be 
the  ablest  discussion  which  appeared;  Daniel  Du- 


132  PATRICK  HENRY. 

lany,  of  Maryland,  who  published  in  October,  1765, 
"  Considerations  on  the  Propriety  of  Imposing  Taxes 
on  the  British  Colonies,  etc.,"  a  master] y  perform 
ance  ;  John  Dickinson,  of  Pennsylvania,  who  in  No 
vember,  1767,  commenced  the  publication  of  a  series 
of  letters  over  the  name  of  "  A  Farmer,"  in  a  Phila 
delphia  paper,  which  were  republished  in  the  differ 
ent  colonies  and  in  England,  and  rendered  him 
deservedly  famous ;  and  Samuel  Adams,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  whose  able  pen  was  never  at  rest  during 
the  whole  revolutionary  period. 

The  ground  on  which  Mr.  Henry  had  planted 
himself,  that  parliamentary  taxation  of  the  unrepre 
sented  Colonies  was  unconstitutional,  and  should  be 
resisted,  became  the  avowed  doctrine  of  America. 
Henceforth  there  was  no  disagreement  on  the  fun 
damental  question  among  leaders ;  they  differed 
only  as  to  methods. 

Having  become  thoroughly  informed  as  to  their 
rights,  the  Colonies  were  not  to  be  deceived  by  the 
jugglery  of  the  Duty  Act.  Although  purporting  to 
be  a  regulation  of  commerce,  and  not  an  internal 
tax,  it  was  plainly  intended  to  raise  a  revenue,  and 
this  was  taxation.  It  was  not  the  manner  of  taxa 
tion,  but  the  right  of  taxation,  that  the  Colonies 
contested,  and  they  were  as  determined  to  resist 
this  last,  as  they  had  been  the  first  effort  to  im 
pose  it.  The  spirit  aroused  by  the  Virginia  reso 
lutions  in  1765  still  existed,  and  there  was  no  hesi 
tation  now  in  giving  expression  to  their  determina 
tion. 

The  Assembly  of  Massachusetts  met  December 
30,  1767,  and  its  deliberations  were  guided  by  the 
clear  intellect  and  firm  purpose  of  Samuel  Adams, 


RENEWED   TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.     133 

one  among  America's  greatest  men.  He  drew  up 
for  the  Assembly  a  letter  to  their  Agent,  an  address 
to  the  Ministry,  and  a  petition  to  the  King,  clearly 
and  ably  presenting  the  rights  of  the  Colonies  and 
the  oppression  of  the  late  Acts  of  Parliament,  and 
asking  for  their  repeal.  He  then  drafted  a  circular 
letter  to  be  sent  to  the  other  colonies,  embodying 
the  points  presented  in  these  papers,  asking  co 
operation  in  the  effort  to  obtain  a  repeal  of  the 
obnoxious  Acts,  and  inviting  them  to  point  out 
anything  further  which  might  be  thought  neces 
sary. 

The  Virginia  Assembly  had  been  prorogued  from 
time  to  time  since  its  session  of  November,  1766, 
till  March  31,  1768,  when  it  was  called  together  to 
devise  measures  for  the  prevention  of  threatened 
troubles  with  the  Indians.  Governor  Fauquier  had 
died  before  the  meeting,  and  John  Blair,  president 
of  the  Council,  was  temporarily  performing  the  ex 
ecutive  duties.  Petitions  were  presented*  from  the 
Counties  of  Amelia,  Chesterfield,  Dinwiddie,  Hen- 
rico,  Prince  William,  and  Westmoreland,  pointing 
out  the  tendencies,  fatal  to  the  liberties  of  a  free  peo 
ple,  of  the  late  Acts  of  Parliament ;  and  the  circular- 
letter  of  Massachusetts  was  also  laid  before  the  body. 
A  petition  to  the  King,  a  memorial  to  the  House  of 
Lords,  and  a  remonstrance  to  the  House  of  Com 
mons,  penned  in  a  still  bolder  style  than  those  from 
Massachusetts,  were  unanimously  adopted,  after- 
careful  consideration.  They  then  replied  to  the 
Assembly  of  Massachusetts,  applauding  them  for 
their  attention  to  American  liberty,  and  directed 
the  speaker  to  communicate  their  proceedings  to  all 
the  colonial  Assemblies,  and  to  urge  the  necessity 


134  PATRICK   HENRY. 

of  a  united,  firm,  but  decent  opposition  to  every 
measure  affecting  their  rights.1 

This  action  shows  how  thoroughly  the  spirit  of 
resistance  now  pervaded  the  colony.  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  looking  back  in  after  years,  did  not  hesitate 
to  attribute  the  unanimity  in  Virginia  during  the 
struggle  on  which  she  was  now  entered,  to  Mr. 
Henry,  saying  : 2  "It  was  to  him  that  we  were  in 
debted  for  the  unanimity  that  prevailed  among  us." 
As  a  leader  of  men  in  such  a  moment,  Nature  could 
hardly  have  formed  a  more  admirable  character. 
He  had  a  wonderful  knowledge  of  men,  and  an  irre 
sistible  power  over  their  passions.  His  foresight 
but  seldom  failed  him,  and  men  learned  to  regard 
him  as  almost  inspired.  His  passion  for  liberty 
was  a  fierce  flame,  which  not  only  filled  his  own 
bosom,  but  was  communicated  to  the  bodies  in  which 
he  sat.  He  had  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  yet  he 
was  considerate  of  the  opinions  of  others,  and  with 
great  tact  led,  rather  than  drove,  the  actors  in  the 
Revolution.  He  was  the  idol  of  the  people,  and 
this  added  to  his  influence  in  the  Assembly,  and 
made  it  overwhelming. 

The  circular  letter  of  Massachusetts  was  sent  to 
the  Ministry  by  Governor  Bernard,  with  a  statement 
that  it  was  designed  to  pave  the  way  for  a  confed 
eracy,  and  calculated  to  inflame  the  continent. 
Lord  Hillsborough  laid  it  before  a  Cabinet  meet 
ing,  April  15,  and  by  them  it  was  considered  little 
better  than  an  incentive  to  rebellion.  The  King 
was  greatly  offended  by  what  he  was  pleased  to 
consider  a  rebellious  spirit,  and  it  was  determined, 

1  Journal  of  House. 

2  Interview  with  Daniel  Webster.     Curtis' s  Webster. 


RENEWED   TROUBLES   WITH   ENGLAND.     135 

regardless  of  law,  that  two  royal  orders  should  be 
issued,  one  requiring  the  Assembly  of  Massachusetts 
to  rescind  their  circular  letter,  and  the  other  requir 
ing  the  other  Assemblies  to  treat  it  with  contempt. 
Both  orders  were  under  pain  of  dissolution. 

The  Assembly  of  Massachusetts  met  in  June,  1768, 
to  find  British  ships  in  Boston  harbor  and  a  Brit 
ish  regiment  in  the  town,  sent  at  the  instance  of 
Governor  Bernard  to  overawe  the  people,  whom  he 
represented  as  in  a  riotous  condition.  The  Assem 
bly,  however,  was  not  intimidated,  but  by  the  de 
cisive  vote  of  ninety-two  to  seventeen  refused  to 
rescind  its  letter.  In  obedience  to  his  orders,  the 
Governor  at  once  dissolved  it. 

The  Assemblies  of  the  other  colonies,  which  met 
afterward,  declined  to  treat  the  circular  letters  of 
Massachusetts  and  Virginia  with  contempt,  but  ex 
pressed  their  sympathy  with  them. 

In  this  condition  of  affairs,  Parliament  met  in 
November,  1768,  and  being  determined  to  make  an 
example  of  Massachusetts,  an  address  was  carried 
in  both  houses,  asking  the  King  to  cause  the  princi 
pal  actors  in  that  province  to  be  brought  to  Eng 
land,  and  tried  before  a  special  commission,  pursuant 
to  an  Act  of  35th  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  for  trying- 
persons  for  treasons  committed  beyond  the  borders 
of  the  kingdom.  This  act  of  one  of  the  most  ty 
rannical  reigns  had  been  passed  before  England  had 
a  colony,  and  had  been  long  obsolete.  The  threat 
ened  enforcement  of  it  now  against  the  colonists, 
was  an  alarming  advance  in  the  course  of  senseless 
tyranny  pursued  toward  them. 

Having  singled  out  Massachusetts  for  punishment, 
the  Ministry  attempted  to  separate  the  other  colo- 


136  PATRICK  HENRY. 

nies  from  her  by  promises  to  repeal  part  of  the  Duty 
Act,  and  by  such  measures  as  it  was  believed  would 
at  least  keep  them  quiet. 

Norborne  Berkeley,  Baron  de  Botetourt,  was  ap 
pointed  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  reached  the  Col 
ony  in  November,  1768.  He  was  an  amiable  and 
attractive  man,  and  was  selected  with  a  view  of 
winning  the  Colony  from  the  American  cause.  Soon 
after  his  arrival,  he  made  himself  very  popular  by 
concurring  with  the  Council  in  refusing  to  issue 
writs  of  assistance  for  the  enforcement  of  the  Kev- 
enue  Act.  A  new  Assembly  was  called  by  him  to 
meet  May  11,  1769.  In  his  speech,  he  assured  them 
of  his  Majesty's  high  regard  for  the  Colony,  which 
would  be  displayed  in  the  future  by  the  requirement 
that  the  Governor  should  reside  within  it,  and  not 
govern  by  a  deputy,  as  had  been  so  long  the  custom. 
He  promised  also  to  exert  himself,  at  the  risk  of  his 
life  and  fortune,  to  extend  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Colony  to  the  Tennessee  River,  on  parallel  36^°. 
He  let  it  be  known  that  he  wished  the  Assembly  to 
pass  no  resolutions  sustaining  the  cause  of  Massa 
chusetts,  and  he  persuaded  himself,  and  so  wrote  to 
England,  that  the  Assembly  would  come  together  in 
a  good  humor  with  the  Ministry,  which  he  would 
not  wantonly  disturb.  He  had  not  yet  learned 
the  temper  of  the  Virginians. 

The  new  Assembly  was  largely  composed  of  men 
already  eminent  as  patriots,  and  the  advanced  party 
was  strengthened  by  the  addition  of  Thomas  Jeffer 
son,  for  the  first  time  a  member  of  the  body.  Mr. 
Henry  appeared  as  a  delegate  from  Hanover,  in 
which  county  he  had  again  taken  up  his  residence, 
and  whose  representative  he  continued  to  be  so  long 


RENEWED   TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.     137 

as  the  House  of  Burgesses  continued  in  existence. 
His  value  as  a  working  member  was  attested  by 
his  appointment  on  the  committees  of  privileges  and 
elections,  of  propositions  and  grievances,  and  for  re 
ligion.  Upon  these  and  upon  other  standing  com 
mittees  he  regularly  served  thereafter,  and  was  al- 
wavs  chairman  of  one  of  them  whenever  he  was 

V 

present  at  their  appointment. 

The  House  was  not  long  detained  from  the  con 
sideration  of  the  late  proceedings  in  England, 
and  the  important  question  was  at  once  present 
ed,  whether  Virginia  should  make  common  cause 
with  Massachusetts,  or  should  wait  for  a  direct 
attack  upon  herself  before  taking  further  action. 
It  was  a  critical  moment.  Had  Massachusetts 
been  deserted,  even  the  steady  hand  of  Samuel  Ad 
ams  might  not  have  been  able  to  keep  her  in  her 
course,  for  a  desertion  by  Virginia  would  have 
caused  most  certainly  a  desertion  by  the  other  col 
onies,  which  looked  for  the  action  of  Virginia  with 
the  greatest  anxiety.  In  fact  the  desertion  of  Mas 
sachusetts  now  would  have  stranded  the  bark  of 
the  Revolution.  John  Dickinson,  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  a  letter  to  R.  H.  Lee,  January  16,  1769,  indicated 
the  controlling  position  held  by  Virginia  among  the 
colonies.  He  said :  "  Virginia,  sir,  has  maintained 
the  common  cause,  with  such  attention,  spirit,  and 
temper  as  has  gained  her  the  highest  degree  of  rep 
utation  among  the  other  colonies.  It  is  as  much 
in  her  power  to  dishearten  them,  as  to  encourage 
them."  * 

After  the  Assembly  had  replied  to  the  Governor's 
speech,  the  joint  address  of  the  Lords  and  Com- 

1  Life  of  R.  H.  Lee,  i,  69. 


138  PATRICK  HENRY. 

mons  to  the  King  came  to  hand.1  Had  there  been 
any  hesitation  before,  it  was  now  dispelled.  The  di 
rect  attack  upon  the  rights  of  person  and  jury  trial 
was  more  alarming  than  the  former  attacks  upon 
rights  of  property,  and  the  House  of  Burgesses  did 
not  hesitate  for  a  moment  as  to  their  duty. 

On  May  16,  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  report 
ed  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  at  once 
adopted  : 


d,  nemine  contradicente,  That  the  sole 
right  of  imposing  taxes  on  the  inhabitants  of  this 
his  Majesty's  colony  and  dominion  of  Virginia,  is 
now,  and  ever  has  been,  legally  and  constitutionally 
vested  in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  lawfully  con 
vened,  according  to  the  ancient  and  established 
practice,  with  the  consent  of  the  Council,  and  of  his 
Majesty  the  King  of  Britain,  or  his  Governor  for 
the  time  being. 

"  Resolved,  nemine  contradicente,  That  it  is  the 
undoubted  privilege  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  col 
ony,  to  petition  their  sovereign  for  redress  of  griev 
ances,  and  that  it  is  lawful  and  expedient  to  pro 
cure  the  concurrence  of  his  Majesty's  other  colonies, 
in  dutiful  addresses,  praying  the  royal  interposition 
in  favor  of  the  violated  rights  of  America. 

"  Resolved,  nemine  contradicente,  That  all  trials 
for  treason,  misprision  of  treason,  or  for  any  felony 
or  crime  whatsoever,  committed  or  done  in  this  his 
Majesty's  said  colony  and  dominion,  by  any  person 
or  persons  residing  therein,  ought  of  right  to  be  had 
and  conducted  in  and  before  his  Majesty's  courts 
held  within  his  said  colony,  according  to  the  fixed 
and  known  course  of  proceeding  ;  and  that  the 
seizing  of  any  person  or  persons  residing  in  this  col- 

1  Letter  of  R.   C.  Nicholas  to  Arthur  Lee,  dated  May  31,   1769,  in 
"Southern  Literary  Messenger  "  for  July,  1858. 


RENEWED  TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.     139 

ony,  suspected  of  any  crime  whatsoever  committed 
therein,  and  sending  such  person  or  persons  to  places 
beyond  the  sea  to  be  tried,  is  highly  derogatory  of 
the  rights  of  British  subjects,  as  thereby  the  inesti 
mable  privilege  of  being  tried  by  a  jury  from  their 
vicinage,  as  well  as  the  liberty  of  summoning  and 
producing  witnesses  in  such  trial,  will  be  taken 
away  from  the  party  accused. 

"  Resolved,  nemine  contradicente,  That  an  humble, 
dutiful  and  loyal  address,  be  presented  to  his  Maj 
esty,  to  assure  him  of  our  inviolable  attachment  to 
his  sacred  person  and  government,  and  to  beseech 
his  royal  interposition,  as  the  father  of  his  people, 
however  remote  from  the  seat  of  his  empire,  to  quiet 
the  minds  of  his  loyal  subjects  of  this  colony,  and 
to  avert  from  them  those  dangers  and  miseries 
which  will  ensue,  from  the  seizing  and  carrying  be 
yond  sea  any  person  residing  in.  America  suspected 
of  any  crime  whatsoever,  to  be  tried  in  any  other 
manner  than  by  the  ancient  and  long  established 
course  of  proceeding." 

It  was  also  "ordered  that  the  Speaker  of  this 
House  do  transmit,  without  delay,  to  the  Speakers  of 
the  several  Houses  of  Assembly  on  this  continent,  a 
copy  of  the  resolutions  now  agreed  to  by  this  House, 
requesting  their  concurrence  therein,"  and  also,  "  that 
the  resolutions  of  the  Lords,  and  the  address  of  the 
Lords  and  Commons  to  the  King,  and  the  resolutions 
of  this  House  reported  and  agreed  to,  be  printed  in 
the  Virginia  Gazette" 

A  committee  was  appointed,  composed  of  Mr. 
Blair,  who  had  acted  as  chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  the  Whole,  E.  H.  Lee,  Mr.  Henry,  Mr.  Treasurer 
(R.  C.  Nicholas),  Mr.  Thomson  Mason  and  Mr.  Ben 
jamin  Harrison,  to  whom  was  entrusted  the  draw- 


140  PATRICK  HENRY. 

ing  of  the  address  to  the  King.     On  the  next  day 
they  reported  the  following : 

"  May  it  please  your  Majesty. 

"  We  your  Majesty's  most  loyal,  dutiful,  and  af 
fectionate  subjects,  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  this 
your  Majesty's  ancient  colony  of  Virginia,  now  met 
in  General  Assembly,  beg  leave  in  the  humblest  man 
ner  to  assure  your  Majesty,  that  your  faithful  sub 
jects  of  this  colony,  ever  distinguished  by  their  loy 
alty,  and  firm  attachment  to  your  Majesty  and  your 
royal  ancestors,  far  from  countenancing  traitors, 
treasons,  or  misprisions  of  treason,  are  ready  at  any 
time  to  sacrifice  our  lives  and  fortunes  in  defence 
of  your  Majesty's  sacred  person  and  government. 

"  It  is  with  the  deepest  concern  and  most  heart 
felt  grief,  that  your  Majesty's  dutiful  subjects  of 
this  colony  find  that  their  loyalty  hath  been  tra 
duced,  and  that  those  measures,  which  a  just  regard 
for  the  British  Constitution  (dearer  to  them  than 
life)  made  necessary  duties,  have  been  misrepre 
sented  as  rebellious  attacks  upon  your  Majesty's 
Government. 

"  When  we  consider  that  by  the  established  laws 
and  constitution  of  this  colony,  the  most  ample  pro 
vision  is  made  for  apprehending  and  punishing  all 
those  who  shall  dare  to  engage  in  any  treasonable 
practices  against  your  Majesty,  or  disturb  the  tran 
quillity  of  Government,  wre  cannot,  without  horror, 
think  of  the  new,  unusual,  and  permit  us  with  all 
humility  to  add,  unconstitutional  and  illegal  mode, 
recommended  to  your  Majesty,  of  seizing  and  carry 
ing  beyond  sea  the  inhabitants  of  America  suspect 
ed  of  crime ;  and  trying  such  persons  in  any  other 
manner  than  by  the  ancient  and  long-established 
course  of  proceeding.  For,  how  truly  deplorable 
must  be  the  case  of  a  wretched  American,  who  hav 
ing  incurred  the  displeasure  of  any  one  in  power,  is 


RENEWED   TROUBLES   WITH   ENGLAND.     141 

dragged  from  his  native  home,  and  dearest  domes- 
tick  connections,  thrown  into  prison,  not  to  await 
his  trial  before  a  court,  jury,  or  judges,  from  a 
knowledge  of  whom  he  is  encouraged  to  hope  for 
speedy  justice ;  but  to  exchange  his  imprisonment  in 
his  own  country,  for  fetters  among  strangers,  con 
veyed  to  a  distance  w^here  no  friend,  no  relation, 
will  alleviate  his  distresses,  or  minister  to  his  neces 
sities,  and  where  no  witness  can  be  found  to  testify 
to  his  innocence  ;  shunned  by  the  reputable  and  hon 
est,  and  consigned  to  the  society  and  converse  of 
the  wretched  and  the  abandoned,  he  can  only  pray 
that  he  may  soon  end  his  misery  with  his  life. 

"Truly  alarmed  at  the  fatal  tendency  of  these 
pernicious  counsels,  and  with  hearts  filled  with  an 
guish,  by  such  dangerous  invasions  of  our  dearest 
privileges,  we  presume  to  prostrate  ourselves  at  the 
foot  of  your  Royal  throne,  beseeching  your  Majes 
ty,  as  our  king  and  father,  to  avert  from  your  faith 
ful  and  loyal  subjects  of  America  those  miseries 
which  must  necessarily  be  the  consequence  of  such 
measures.  After  expressing  our  firm  confidence  in 
your  Royal  wisdom  and  goodness,  permit  us  to  as 
sure  your  Majesty,  that  the  most  fervent  prayers  of 
your  people  of  this  colony  are  duly  addressed  to 
the  Almighty,  that  your  Majesty's  reign  may  be 
long  and  prosperous  over  Great  Britain,  and  all  your 
dominions,  and  that,  after  death,  your  Majesty  may 
taste  the  fullest  fruition  of  eternal  bliss,  and  that  a 
descendant  of  your  illustrious  House,  may  reign  over 
the  extended  British  empire  until  time  shall  be  no 


more." 


This  address  was  ordered  to  be  sent  to  the  agent 
to  be  presented  to  the  King,  and  afterward  printed 
in  the  English  papers. 

These  proceedings  were  had  with  closed  doors,  for 
fear  the  Governor  might  dissolve  the  body  before 


142  PATRICK   HENRY. 

they  could  complete  them.  They  had  scarcely  or 
dered  the  address  to  be  entered  on  the  journal  be 
fore  they  were  summoned  to  attend  the  Governor, 
who  said,  "  Mr.  Speaker  and  Gentlemen  of  the  House 
of  Kepresentatives,  I  have  heard  of  your  resolves, 
and  augur  ill  of  their  effects ;  you  have  made  it  my 
duty  to  dissolve  you,  and  you  are  accordingly  dis 
solved." 

The  proceedings  were  well  deserving  of  the  en 
comium  of  Bancroft,  who  says  of  them,  they  "  were 
calm  in  manner,  concise,  simple,  effective;  so  per 
fect  in  substance  and  in  form  that  time  finds  no 
omission  to  regret,  no  improvement  to  suggest." 
Nothing  can  exceed  the  dignity  and  firmness  dis 
played  in  the  resolves  and  the  address,  and  the  King 
must  have  been  blind  indeed,  not  to  have  recognized 
the  fact  that  the  men  who  adopted  them  would  not 
submit  to  the  loss  of  their  cherished  rights. 

It  is  not  known  who  wrote  these  papers.  That  Mr. 
Henry  was  active  in  their  passage  cannot  be  doubted, 
and  the  resolves  are  so  full  of  the  vigor  and  bold 
ness  which  characterized  his  resolutions  of  May,  1765, 
that  it  is  very  probable  they  were  from  his  pen. 

The  action  of  Virginia  greatly  encouraged  the 
patriots  throughout  America,  and  the  press  teemed 
with  her  praise.  The  several  colonies  through  their 
assemblies  approved  her  resolutions,  and  in  some 
cases  adopted  them  verbatim.  Thus  Virginia  led 
the  way,  and  united  the  colonies  in  resisting  Brit 
ish  encroachment  on  their  rights  of  person,  as  she 
had  done  regarding  the  encroachment  on  their  rights 
of  property. 

Upon  the  dissolution  of  the  Assembly  the  mem 
bers  met  in  the  long  room  of  the  Raleigh  tavern, 


RENEWED   TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.     143 

called  "  The  Apollo,"  and  signed  an  agreement  pre 
sented  by  Washington,  which  had  been  drawn  by 
George  Mason,  not  then  in  public  life,  pledging  them 
selves  to  encourage  industry  and  frugality,  and  not 
to  import  or  to  buy  any  articles  which  were  taxed 
by  Parliament.  Some  of  the  other  colonies  had  al 
ready  entered  into  similar  agreements,  and  subse 
quently  all  joined  in  the  movement.  Homespun 
clothes  became  fashionable,  and  the  test  of  patriot 
ism,  and  British  commerce  began  to  suffer  from 
British  tyranny. 

The  Ministry  now  found  themselves  beset  with 
difficulties.  An  able  minority  on  the  floor  of  Parlia 
ment,  led  by  Burke,  resisted  every  step  in  their 
American  policy,  and  exposed  the  tyrannical  princi 
ples  on  which  it  was  based.  A  party  was  formed 
among  the  people  which  favored  the  colonies,  and 
was  strengthened  by  the  non -importation  agreements 
which  affected  the  merchants  and  manufacturers. 
The  repeated  expulsion  of  John  Wilkes  from  his 
seat  in  Parliament,  at  the  requirement  of  the  King, 
brought  on  a  contest  with  his  constituents,  the  vot 
ers  of  Middlesex,  which  came  near  lighting  the  torch 
of  civil  war  under  the  very  shadow  of  Parliament 
building,  and  greatly  increased  the  sympathy  for 
the  colonies.  And  to  crown  their  miseries,  the 
strong  arm  of  the  concealed  form  of  Junius  was 
discharging  those  polished  shafts,  the  envy  and 
despair  of  political  writers,  which  transfixed  the 
King  and  his  advisers,  and  held  them  up  as  ob 
jects  of  contempt  to  their  own  and  succeeding 
ages. 

Lord  Botetourt,  unlike  Governor  Bernard,  warm 
ly  espoused  the  cause  of  his  colony,  and  urged  the 


144  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Ministry  to  do  justice  to  a  people  of  whose  loyalty 
and  patriotism  he  was  fully  satisfied. 

Forced  to  retrace  their  steps,  the  Ministry  attempt 
ed  to  pacify  the  colonies  without  yielding  the  right 
to  tax  them.  It  was  determined  to  repeal  the  duty 
on  every  article  except  tea,  and  the  Governors  were 
directed  to  inform  the  several  Assemblies  that  the 
repeal  would  be  moved  in  the  next  Parliament, 
"  upon  consideration  of  such  duties  having  been  laid 
contrary  to  the  true  principles  of  commerce." 

The  Virginia  Assembly  was  called  together  on 
November  7,  1769,  and  Lord  Botetourt,  in  the  name 
of  the  Ministry,  gave  them  this  assurance,  and  that 
no  further  effort  would  be  made  to  raise  a  revenue 
from  America.  The  Council  in  reply  advised  the 
repeal  of  existing  parliamentary  taxes,  and  the  Bur 
gesses,  expressing  their  gratitude  for  his  Majesty's 
purpose,  trusted  that  the  same  wisdom  and  good 
ness  would  still  further  incline  him  to  an  exertion  of 
his  influence  toward  perfecting  the  happiness  of  all 
his  people.  They  expressed  their  regard  for  the 
Governor  in  terms  which  were  highly  appreciated 
by  him,  and  the  most  cordial  feelings  were  estab 
lished  between  them. 

The  House  at  once  addressed  itself  to  matters  of 
importance  brought  to  their  attention  by  the  Gov 
ernor.  Several  cruel  murders  of  friendly  Indians 
had  been  committed  on  the  frontier,  and  the  mur 
derers,  after  their  arrest,  had  been  rescued  and  were 
at  la,rge.  In  addition  to  the  important  committees 
on  which  he  had  been  formerly  placed,  Mr.  Henry 
was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Ind 
ian  Affairs,  and  their  report  shows  not  only  the  firm 
est  determination  to  maintain  the  treaties  with  the 


RENEWED   TROUBLES   WITH   ENGLAND.     145 

Indians,  and  to  vindicate  the  laws  of  the  colony 
against  crime,  but  a  broad  view  of  the  relations  of 
the  Indian  tribes  to  the  colony.  They  reported 
"  that  all  treaties  with  the  Indians  ought  to  be  made 
by  or  under  the  authority  of  Government  only,  and 
that  for  any  private  person  or  persons  to  enter  into 
negotiation  with  them,  or  to  invite  them  into  the 
colony  for  such  treaty,  is  a  great  misdemeanor,  and 
may  be  attended  with  the  most  dangerous  conse 
quences."  1  This  ground  was  subsequently  main 
tained  by  Virginia  against  the  claims  of  persons  and 
companies  seeking  to  acquire  part  of  the  western 
territory,  by  virtue  of  treaties  with  the  Indians  to 
which  the  colony  was  no  party. 

Another  matter  of  very  great  importance  was  the 
line  proposed  by  the  Board  of  Trade  as  the  western 
boundary  with  the  Indians.  This  line  was  to  run 
from  the  point  where  the  extension  of  the  North 
Carolina  line  would  strike  the  Holston  River,  to 
the  mouth  of  the  great  Kanhawa  on  the  Ohio,  and 
it  would  not  only  have  cut  off  from  Virginia  some  of 
her  settlements,  and  given  up  to  the  Indians  the  vast 
territory  afterward  known  as  Kentucky,  and  much 
of  what  is  now  West  Virginia,  but  would  have  left 
the  western  settlements  greatly  exposed  to  the  at 
tacks  of  hostile  Indians. 

The  committee  to  which  this  matter  was  referred, 
of  which  Mr.  Henry  was  a  member,  insisted  on  an 
other  line,  which,  beginning  at  the  western  termina- 
.tion  of  the  North  Carolina  line,  and  running  due 
west  to  the  Ohio,  took  in  Kentucky.  It  recom 
mended  that  the  rights  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  to 
any  part  of  the  territory  embraced  be  purchased, 

1  Journal,  137-8. 


10 


146  PATRICK  HENRY. 

and  the  land  so  taken  in  be  sold  to  actual  settlers 
in  reasonable  quantities,  to  the  exclusion  of  monop 
olies.  These  were  measures  intended  to  encourage 
emigration  to  the  westward,  and  to  thwart  the  de 
signs  of  the  large  land  companies  which  were 
attempting  to  get  possession  of  the  vast  unsettled 
territory  of  Virginia. 

In  his  journey  to  the  Holston  the  year  before, 
Mr.  Henry  had  acquired  a  personal  knowledge  of 
the  western  frontier,  and  become  deeply  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  the  western  country  in 
itself,  and  in  its  relations  to  Virginia. 

At  this  time  it  was  the  policy  of  Lord  Hills- 
borough  to  divert  immigration  from  it,  and  to  confine 
population  to  the  country  near  the  sea-coast,  whose 
trade  he  deemed  more  profitable  to  England,  and 
more  easily  controlled.1  He  had  even  attempted  to 
prevent  the  cession  of  this  territory  to  the  English 
by  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians  at  the  treaty  of  Fort 
Stanwix,  in  November,  1768.  But  William  John 
son,  representing  the  northern  district,  and  Thomas 
Walker,  representing  Virginia,  had  gotten  these 
confederate  nations,  who  claimed  as  conquerors 
from  the  Shawanese,  to  cede  the  territory  south  of 
the  Ohio,  as  far  as  the  Cherokee  or  Cumberland 
River.2  Virginia  claimed  the  entire  territory  west 
of  her  settlements  by  virtue  of  her  charter,  and 
while  willing  to  purchase  Indian  rights,  was  not 
willing  to  abandon  her  claim.  Mr.  Henry  fully 
appreciated  the  value  of  this  territory,  and  of 
the  Mississippi  River  as  a  highway  of  commerce, 
and,  as  will  be  seen,  never  ceased  his  efforts  till 

1  Report  of  Lords  of  Trade,  Franklin's  Works,  vol.  iv.,  p.  303. 

2  Bancroft,  vi.,  227-8,  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  iv.,  p.  332. 


RENEWED   TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.     147 

the  advantages  of  both  were  secured  to  the  col 
onies. 

In  January,  1770,  Lord  North  was  made  first  Lord 
of  the  Treasury  and  Prime  Minister.  In  April,  mak 
ing  a  petition  from  the  merchants  of  London  the  ex 
cuse,  he  moved  to  repeal  the  duty  on  all  articles  im 
ported  by  the  colonies  from  England,  except  tea. 
This  was  excepted  at  the  instance  of  the  King,  who 
insisted  that,  "there  must  always  be  one  tax  to 
keep  up  the  right." 

The  Virginia  Assembly  met  in  May,  and  were  in 
formed  by  the  Governor,  on  June  20,  of  this  repeal. 
They  had  hoped  that  the  Ministry  would  listen  to 
the  earnest  request  of  Lord  Botetourt,  and  ask  for 
the  repeal  of  all  obnoxious  legislation,  and  their  dis 
appointment  and  dissatisfaction  were  indicated,  by 
their  ordering  the  next  day  that  a  petition  to  the 
King  be  drawn,  praying  that  he  would  "recom 
mend  to  his  Parliament  a  total  repeal  of  certain 
acts  lately  passed  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  rev 
enue  in  America,  and  for  subjecting  American  prop 
erty  to  the  jurisdiction  of  distant  and  arbitrary 
courts  of  admiralty,  where  trial  by  jury  is  not  per 
mitted,  and  where  distance  and  interest  may  both 
conspire  to  ruin  the  innocent." 

Besides  this  address,  the  members  entered  into  a 
new  association,  uniting  with  the  merchants,  and 
providing  for  committees  in  the  several  counties  to 
see  that  their  agreements  of  non-importation  were 
enforced.  The  use  of  tea  was  to  be  entirely  discon 
tinued,  and  it  was  hoped  that  the  firm  purpose  of 
the  colonies  not  to  buy  any  article  taxed  by  Parlia 
ment,  would  finally  result  in  the  repeal  of  the  entire 
Duty  Act. 


148  PATRICK  HENRY. 

The  difficulties  between  the  citizens  of  Boston  and 
the  soldiery,  which  resulted  in  the  latter  firing  on 
the  people  March  5,  1770,  killing  three  and  wound 
ing  eight,  had  caused  great  excitement  throughout 
America.  It  had  resulted  in  a  removal  of  the  troops 
from  the  town,  and  the  trial  of  the  officer  in  com 
mand,  Captain  Preston,  and  several  of  the  soldiers, 
by  the  civil  court.  The  Virginia  Assembly,  there 
fore,  did  not  see  fit  to  take  note  of  the  occur 
rence. 

The  Journal  of  this,  as  of  other  Assemblies,  abounds 
with  evidence  of  the  value  of  Mr.  Henry  as  a  busi 
ness  member.  Besides  the  important  committees  on 
which  he  had  previously  served,  he  was  placed  upon 
several  special  committees,  among  which  may  be 
mentioned  one  to  frame  a  bill  for  the  better  admin 
istration  of  justice  in  the  county  courts,  and  another 
to  examine  the  treasurer's  accounts.  Upon  this  last 
committee  he.  was  continued  during  subsequent  ses 
sions.  He  was  also  appointed,  along  with  Richard 
Bland  and  Thomas  Walker,  to  meet  commissioners 
from  the  colonies  of  Quebec,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware,  to 
agree  on  a  general  plan  for  the  regulation  of  the 
Indian  trade.  This  conference  had  been  proposed 
by  the  New  York  Assembly  to  be  held  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  was  agreed  to  by  Virginia, 
Quebec,  and  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Henry  left  his 
home  in  July  to  attend  it,  and  was  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Bland,  but  their  journey  was  fruitless,  as 
the  Government  prevented  the  conference,  fearing 
any  move  which  looked  like  union  among  the  col 


onies.1 


1  Hamilton's  History  of  the  Republic,  1,  31,  and  Bancroft,  vi,  316. 


RENEWED   TROUBLES  WITH  ENGLAND.     149 

In  October,  1770,  Lord  Botetourt  died,  greatly 
lamented  by  the  Colony,  whose  cause  he  had  ear 
nestly  advocated  with  the  Ministry,  and  whose  affec 
tion  he  had  won  by  his  frank  and  manly  bearing. 
The  Assembly  in  1769  had  named  a  county  in  his 
honor,  and  after  his  death  his  statue  was  ordered  to 
be  placed  in  the  capital  of  the  Colony.  By  his 
death  the  duties  of  the  executive  devolved  on  Will 
iam  Nelson,  President  of  the  Council,  who  con 
vened  the  Assembly  on  11,  July,  1771,  to  give  relief 
to  the  sufferers  who,  by  the  unprecedented  freshet 
in  the  month  of  May,  had  lost  tobacco  in  the  pub 
lic  warehouses. 

A  signal  proof  was  given  by  this  Assembly  of  the 
advance  of  dissent,  and  the  growing  jealousy  of 
ecclesiastical  powers,  in  their  unanimous  vote  of 
thanks  to  Messrs.  Henley,  Gwatkin,  Hewitt,  and 
Bland,  ministers  of  the  established  church,  "for  the 
wise  and  well-timed  opposition  they  have  made  to 
the  pernicious  project  of  a  few  mistaken  clergymen, 
for  introducing  an  American  bishop  ;  a  measure  by 
which  much  disturbance,  great  anxiety,  and  appre 
hension  would  certainly  take  place  among  his  Ma 
jesty's  faithful  American  subjects." 

During  the  year  Mr.  Henry  purchased  a  valuable 
tract  of  land  in  Hanover,  called  "  Scotchtown," 
which  he  made  his  home.  The  place  cost  him 
£600,  and  was  considered  cheap  at  that  price,  as 
appears  by  a  letter  from  Colonel  William  Christian 
congratulating  him  on  the  purchase.  He  was  also 
the  owner  of  lands  in  Botetourt  County,  on  James 
River,  which,  the  same  letter  informed  him,  did  not 
suffer  by  the  flood.  It  thus  appears  that  he  had 
not  neglected  his  profession  in  attending  the  Assem- 


150  PATRICK   HENRY. 

bly,  and  his  frequent  and  judicious  purchases  of 
real  estate  after  this  period  show  his  wise  manage 
ment  of  his  private  affairs. 

John  Murray,  Earl  of  Dunmore,  a  Scotch  noble 
man  and  a  peer  of  the  realm,  was  transferred  from 
the  government  of  New  York  to  that  of  Virginia  in 
1771.  He  had  been  a  pupil  of  Lord  Bute  while 
George  III.  was  under  his  tuition,  and  was  deeply 
imbued  with  his  Tory  principles.  Edmund  Ran 
dolph  says  of  him : l  "To  external  accomplish 
ment  he  pretended  not,  and  his  manners  and  senti 
ments  did  not  surpass  substantial  barbarism;  a 
barbarism  which  was  not  palliated  by  a  particle 
of  native  genius,  nor  regulated  by  an  ingredient 
of  religion.  His  propensities  were  coarse  and  de 
praved." 

The  contrast  with  the  courtly  and  refined  Bote- 
tourt  excited  the  disgust  of  the  Virginians,  and 
aided  greatly  in  developing  the  feeling  of  alienation 
between  the  colony  and  the  mother  country,  which 
was  daily  gaining  strength. 

The  Governor  called  a  new  Assembly,  to  meet 
February  10,  1772.  Nothing  touching  the  relations 
with  the  home  government  was  determined  at  its 
session,  except  the  adoption  of  an  address  to  the 
King  strongly  protesting  against  the  slave  trade, 
not  only  because  of  its  inhumanity,  but  because 
of  its  threatening  to  endanger  the  very  existence 
of  the  colonies;  and  beseeching  him  "'to  remove 
all  those  restraints  on  your  Majesty's  government 
of  this  Colony  which  inhibit  their  assenting  to 
such  laws  as  might  check  so  pernicious  a  com 


merce." 


1  MS.  History  of  Virginia. 


RENEWED   TROUBLES  WITH   ENGLAND.     151 

The  Assembly  were  justly  alarmed  at  the  increase 
of  slaves.  By  a  calculation  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in 
his  "  Notes  on  Virginia,"  the  proportion  of  the 
blacks  with  the  whites  in  the  colony  in  1782  was 
as  ten  to  eleven,  and  it  could  not  have  been 
very  different  in  1772.  For  years  the  royal  as 
sent  had  been  withheld  from  enactments  impos 
ing  duties  on  their  importation,  by  which  it  had 
been  sought  to  check  their  increase,  and  the  colony 
was  filling  up  rapidly  with  a  barbarous  popula 
tion  taken  from  the  wilds  of  Africa.  As  slaves 
they  retarded  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  and 
to  give  them  the  rights  of  citizenship  seemed 
certain  destruction  to  every  interest  held  dear  by 
the  English  race.  Well  might  the  Assembly  de 
clare  that  the  continuance  of  the  iniquitous  trade 
would  "  endanger  the  very  existence  of  the  col 


onies." 


The  King,  to  his  shame  be  it  said,  unwilling  to 
give  up  his  part  of  the  profits  of  the  inhuman  traf 
fic,  evaded  a  reply  to  this  solemn  appeal,  and  con 
tinued  to  withhold  his  consent  to  its  prohibition ; 
while  Lord  Mansfield,  ardently  supporting  his 
American  policy,  was  announcing  from  the  King's 
Bench  the  doctrine  that  slavery  could  not  exist  in 
England,  and  releasing  a  Virginia  negro  brought 
there  by  his  master.1 

Mr.  Henry's  views  on  this  important  subject  have 
been  already  indicated,  but  it  is  fortunate  that  a  dis 
tinct  statement  of  them  has  been  preserved  in  a  let 
ter  to  a  correspondent,  who  had  sent  him  the  book 
of  Anthony  Benezet  on  slavery.  This  letter  is 
found  in  the  "  Life  of  Benezet,"  by  Robert  Vaux, 

1  Somerset  vs.  Stewart,  Lofft  Reports,  Easter  Term,  1772. 


152  PATRICK   HENRY. 

and   is  the   earliest    of   Mr.  Henry' s    letters  now 
known  to  exist.     It  is  as  follows  : 

"HANOVEB,  January  18,  1773. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  take  this  opportunity  to  acknowl 
edge  the  receipt  of  Anthony  Benezet's  book  against 
the  slave  trade.  I  thank  you  for  it.  It  is  not  a 
little  surprising  that  the  professors  of  Christianity, 
whose  chief  excellence  consists  in  softening  the  hu 
man  heart,  and  in  cherishing  and  improving  its  finer 
feelings,  should  encourage  a  practice  so  totally  re 
pugnant  to  the  first  impressions  of  right  and  wrong. 
What  adds  to  the  wonder  is  that  this  abominable 
practice  has  been  introduced  in  the  most  enlightened 
ages.  Times,  that  seem  to  have  pretensions  to  boast 
of  high  improvements  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and 
refined  morality,  have  brought  into  general  use,  and 
guarded  by  many  laws,  a  species  of  violence  and 
tyranny,  which  our  more  rude  and  barbarous,  but 
more  honest  ancestors  detested.  Is  it  not  amazing, 
that  at  a  time,  when  the  rights  of  humanity  are  de 
fined  and  understood  with  precision,  in  a  country, 
above  all  others,  fond  of  liberty,  that  in  such  an 
age  and  in  such  a  country,  we  find  men  professing  a 
religion  the  most  humane,  mild,  gentle  and  generous, 
adopting  a  principle  as  repugnant  to  humanity,  as  it 
is  inconsistent  with  the  bible,  and  destructive  to 
liberty  ?  Every  thinking,  honest  man  rejects  it  in 
speculation,  how  few  in  practice  from  conscientious 
motives ! 

"  Would  anyone  believe  I  am  the  master  of  slaves 
of  my  own  purchase  !  I  am  drawn  along  by  the 
general  inconvenience  of  living  here  without  them. 
I  will  not,  I  cannot  justify  it.  However  culpable 
my  conduct,  I  will  so  far  pay  my  devoir  to  virtue, 
as  to  own  the  excellence  and  rectitude  of  her  pre 
cepts,  and  lament  my  want  of  conformity  to  them. 

u  I  believe  a  time  will  come  when  an  opportunity 


RENEWED  TROUBLES  WITH  ENGLAND.     153 

will  be  offered  to  abolish  this  lamentable  evil. 
Everything  we  can  do  is  to  improve  it,  if  it  hap 
pens  in  our  day ;  if  not,  let  us  transmit  to  our  de 
scendants,  together  with  our  slaves,  a  pity  for  their 
unhappy  lot,  and  an  abhorrence  of  slavery.  If  we 
cannot  reduce  this  wished-for  reformation  to  prac 
tice,  let  us  treat  the  unhappy  victims  with  lenity. 
It  is  the  furthest  advance  we  can  make  toward 
justice.  It  is  a  debt  we  owe  to  the  purity  of  our 
religion,  to  show  that  it  is  at  variance  with  that 
law  which  warrants  slavery. 

u  I  know  not  when  to  stop.  I  could  say  many 
things  on  the  subject,  a  serious  view  of  which 
gives  a  gloomy  perspective  to  future  times." 

The  "  gloomy  perspective  "  which  filled  his  mind 
was  made  a  terrible  reality  before  a  century  had 
passed,  when  the  bonds  of  slavery  were  sundered 
by  the  consuming  flame  of  the  most  gigantic  civil 
war  of  which  history  has  made  record,  leaving  the 
unsolved  problem  of  negro  citizenship  to  clog  Amer 
ican  progress,  and  to  endanger  American  institu 
tions. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

IRRITATING  MEASUEES  OF  ENGLAND— 1772-1774. 

Attempt  to  Govern  by  Eoyal  Instructions. — Act  for  Securing  Dock 
yards,  Ships,  and  Stores. — Affair  of  the  Gaspee. — Inquiry  into 
it  by  a  Commission  with  Secret  Orders. — Death  of  Colonel  John 
Henry. — New  Assembly. — Rebuke  to  the  Governor  for  Disregard 
of  the  Criminal  Laws. — Law  Against  Counterfeiting. — Acts  for 
Internal  Improvement. — Committees  of  Correspondence  Ad 
vised,  and  One  Appointed  for  Virginia. — Incidents  Relating  to 
the  Resolutions,  and  Mr.  Henry's  Part  in  Them. — Judge  Tuck 
er's  Account  of  Mr.  Henry  in  this  Assembly. — Hearty  Response 
of  the  Other  Colonies  to  the  Proposal  of  Virginia,  as  Tending 
to  Union. — What  was  the  Honor  Due  to  Virginia  in  this  Re 
gard? — Effect  upon  the  Ministry. — Adjournment  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Commission. — Embarrassment  of  the  East  India  Com 
pany.— Act  for  Their  Relief. — Duty  on  Tea  Shipped  to  America 
Arouses  Opposition. — The  Consignees  in  Three  Ports  Forced 
to  Resign. — At  Boston  the  Tea  Thrown  Overboard  by  Dis 
guised  Men. — Rage  of  the  Ministry. — Bill  to  Close  the  Port  of 
Boston. 

As  Parliament  was  not  active  in  enforcing  their 
claim  to  tax,  and  the  colonies  had  met  the  existing 
Duty  Act  by  refusing  to  buy  the  taxed  articles,  the 
question  of  taxation  ceased  to  be  agitated  as  former 
ly,  and  the  kindly  relations  between  England  and 
America  would  probably  have  been  renewed,  had 
not  the  administration  kept  up  a  series  of  most  irri 
tating  measures.  The  Assembly  of  Massachusetts 
were  not  allowed  to  meet  in  Boston,  but  were  con 
vened  at  Cambridge.  Every  colonial  Assembly 
which  did  not  obey  the  requirements  of  the  admin 
istration,  however  unusual  or  oppressive  they  might 


IRRITATING  MEASURES   OF   ENGLAND.     155 

be,  was  at  once  dissolved.  Arbitrary  and  dishonest 
men  were  placed  in  power  in  the  colonies,  and  sup 
ported  out  of  the  treasury  at  home,  so  as  to  be  en 
tirely  independent  of  those  they  governed.  Their 
extortion  in  North  Carolina  caused  some  of  the  best 
people  to  band  together  to  resist  it,  and  brought  on 
the  war  of  the  Regulators.  In  Georgia  the  Speaker 
elected  was  rejected  by  the  Governor.  Everywhere 
Royal  Instructions  were  put  above  law  and  the  an 
cient  customs  of  colonial  government.  And  this 
was  done  in  violation  of  the  British  Constitution  as 
construed  by  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  presided 
over  by  Lord  Mansfield,  which  held,  in  the  case  of 
Campbell  vs.  Hall,1  that  where  there  was  a  colonial 
Assembly  allowed,  the  King's  prerogative  did  not 
extend  to  the  making  or  altering  of  laws. 

In  April,  1772,  an  act  was  passed  for  the  better 
securing  of  dockyards,  ships  and  stores,  which  ex 
tended  to  the  colonies,  and  made  death  the  penalty 
for  destroying  any  article,  even  the  most  trifling, 
which  belonged  to  the  fleet,  and  subjected  the  ac 
cused  to  a  trial  in  any  county  in  England.  The  Brit 
ish  ship  Gaspee,  stationed  in  the  harbor  of  Provi 
dence,  Rhode  Island,  and  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Dudingston,  had  greatly  obstructed  commerce  by  the 
conduct  of  its  commander,  in  stopping  and  search 
ing  in  an  unlawful  manner  vessels  using  the  har 
bor,  and  seizing  their  cargoes.  On  June  9,  1772,  it 
chased  the  Providence  packet  coming  into  port,  and, 
following  it  too  far,  ran  aground.  The  following 
night  a  party  of  disguised  men  in  boats  boarded 
the  stranded  vessel,  and  after  a  scuffle,  in  which  the 
commander  was  wounded,  captured  and  landed  the 

1  Reported  in  Cowper's  Reports,  204. 


156  PATRICK  HENRY. 

crew,  and  fired  the  schooner.  The  affair  was  con 
ducted  on  a  sudden  impulse,  by  men  exasperated  by 
continuous  insolence  and  oppression,  but  it  called 
forth  the  harshest  measures  at  the  hands  of  the 
Ministry.  It  was  pronounced  by  Thurlow  and 
Wedderburn  to  be  a  crime  of  deeper  dye  than 
piracy,  and  steps  were  taken  for  the  discovery  and 
apprehension  of  the  persons  engaged  in  it,  in  order 
that  they  might  be  carried  to  England  for  "  condign 
punishment."  In  January,  1773,  a  commission, 
composed  of  Admiral  Montague,  the  vice-admiralty 
judge  at  Boston,  the  Chief  Justices  of  Massachusetts, 
New  York,  and  New  Jersey,  and  the  Governor  of 
Rhode  Island,  met  at  Newport  to  make  inquest  as 
to  the  matter,  with  orders  to  cause  the  offenders  to 
be  arrested  and  sent  to  England  for  trial.  The 
commission,  baffled  in  their  inquiries,  continued  their 
session  for  months.  The  fact  of  their  appointment 
was  looked  upon  as  a  direct  attack  upon  the  right 
of  trial  by  jury,  and  caused  widespread  alarm, 
which  was  greatly  increased  by  the  difficulty  ex 
perienced  in  ascertaining  what  were  the  precise 
orders  under  which  they  acted. 

In  the  midst  of  this  excitement  Mr.  Henry  was 
called  to  the  death-bed  of  his  honored  father,  who 
died  in  February,  1773,  having  been  spared  to  see 
a  large  family  comfortably  settled  in  life,  and  his 
youngest  son  the  leading  man  in  the  colony.  Upon 
that  son  he  had  leaned  for  support  in  his  declining 
years,  and  he  had  found  that  the  cares  of  public  life 
had  not  lessened  his  filial  affection. 

Lord  Dunmore  was  loath  to  convene  the  Assem 
bly.  He  prorogued  them  from  time  to  time  after 
the  session  of  February,  1772,  till  March  4,  1773. 


IRRITATING  MEASURES   OF   ENGLAND.     157 

He  was  forced  to  call  them  together  at  tliat  time  to 
prevent  a  commercial  panic,  arising  from  the  discov 
ery  of  extensive  forgeries  of  the  treasury  notes  in 
circulation.  Before  the  House  met  he  had  caused 
certain  suspected  citizens  of  Pittsylvania  County  to 
be  arrested  and  tried,  without  being  brought  before 
an  examining  court,  as  required  by  law.  At  the 
opening  of  the  session  he  sent  them  the  information, 
received  on  oath,  implicating  Paschal  Greenhill,  a 
member  of  the  House,  in  passing  counterfeit  notes, 
that  they  might  take  the  necessary  steps  to  punish 
him.  The  action  of  the  house  in  reference  to  both 
of  these  matters  was  evidently  the  work  of  Mr. 
Henry,  as  he  was  made  chairman  of  the  committees 
appointed  to  wait  on  the  Governor  with  their  reso 
lutions.  As  regards  the  accused  member,  it  was — 

"  Resolved,  That  an  humble  address  be  presented 
to  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  returning  him  the 
sincere  thanks  of  this  House  for  the  information  re 
specting  Mr.  Paschal  Greenhill,  which  the  House 
esteems  an  instance  of  his  Lordship's  tenderness 
and  affection  for  the  privileges  of  the  members  of 
this  House ;  to  assure  him,  that  the  House  is  filled 
with  a  just  detestation  of  an  offence  so  dangerous 
in  its  consequences ;  and  to  entreat  that  his  Lord 
ship  will  be  pleased  to  direct  that  every  legal  step 
be  forthwith  taken  for  securing  the  said  Mr.  Green- 
hill,  that  he  may  be  brought  to  justice,  and  all 
others  accused  upon  good  grounds  of  the  like  of 
fence  ;  and  engaging  that  this  House  will  most 
cheerfully  pay  any  reasonable  reward  his  Excellency 
may  think  fit  to  offer  for  apprehending  such  offend 
ers;  to  be  paid  upon  their  conviction." 


158  PATRICK  HENRY. 

At  the  same  time  the  Governor  was  required  to 
lay  before  the  House  the  proceedings  in  the  arrest 
and  trial  of  the  accused  citizens  of  Pittsylvania. 
Upon  examining  these  irregular  proceedings,  the 
House  voted  the  following  address  : 

"My  Lord:  We,  his  Majesty's  dutiful  subjects, 
beg  leave  to  present  your  Excellency  our  sincere 
thanks  for  your  attention  to  the  interests  of  this 
colony,  by  vigorously  endeavoring  to  bring  the  for 
gers  of  our  paper  currency  to  justice,  but  the  pro 
ceedings  in  this  case,  my  Lord,  though  rendered 
necessary  by  the  particular  nature  of  it,  are  never 
theless  different  from  the  usual  mode,  it  being  regu 
lar  that  an  examining  court  on  criminals  should  be 
held,  either  in  the  county  where  the  act  was  com 
mitted,  or  the  arrest  made.  The  duty  we  owe  our 
constituents  obliges  us,  my  Lord,  to  be  as  attentive 
to  the  safety  of  the  innocent,  as  we  are  desirous 
of  punishing  the  guilty;  and  we  apprehend  that 
a  doubtful  construction  and  various  execution  of 
criminal  law,  does  greatly  endanger  the  safety  of  in 
nocent  men.  We  do  therefore  most  humbly  pray 
your  Excellency,  that  the  proceedings  in  this  case 
may  not  in  future  be  drawn  into  consequence  or 
example." 

The  House  thus,  while  duly  appreciating  the 
respect  shown  their  own  privileges,  did  not  fail  to 
see  and  protest  against  the  arbitrary  action  of  the 
Governor,  in  causing  citizens  to  be  tried  before  they 
had  passed  through  the  preliminary  examination  ac 
corded  to  every  one  charged  with  felony. 

Before  presenting  this  address  the  House  com 
pleted  their  legislation  for  the  calling  in  of  the  coun 
terfeited  notes,  and  the  punishment  of  those  engaged 


IRRITATING  MEASURES   OF  ENGLAND.     159 

in  forging  or  circulating  the  treasury  notes  of  Vir 
ginia,  or  of  any  other  colony.  They  took  care  also 
to  transact  all  other  business  they  deemed  impor 
tant.1  On  March  12,  they  came  to  the  following 
important  resolves : 

"Whereas,  The  minds  of  his  Majesty's  faithful 
subjects  in  this  colony  have  been  much  disturbed, 
by  various  rumors  and  reports  of  proceedings  tend 
ing  to  deprive  them  of  their  ancient,  legal,  and  con 
stitutional  right, 

"  And  whereas,  The  affairs  of  this  colony  are  fre 
quently  connected  with  those  of  Great  Britain,  as 
well  as  of  the  neighboring  colonies,  which  renders  a 
communication  of  sentiments  necessary;  in  order, 
therefore,  to  remove  the  uneasinesses,  and  to  quiet 
the  minds  of  the  people,  as  well  as  for  the  other 
good  purposes  above  mentioned, 

"  JBe  it  resolved,  That  a  standing  committee  of 
correspondence  and  inquiry  be  appointed,  to  consist 
of  eleven  persons  to  wit :  the  Honorable  Peyton 
Randolph,  Esquire,  Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  Rich 
ard  Bland,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Benjamin  Harrison, 
Edmund  Pendleton,  Patrick  Henry,  Dudley  Digges, 
Dabney  Carr,  Archibald  Gary  and  Thomas  Jeffer 
son,  Esquires,  any  six  of  whom  to  be  a  committee, 
whose  business  it  shall  be  to  obtain  the  most  early 
and  authentic  intelligence  of  all  such  acts  and  reso 
lutions  of  the  British  Parliament,  or  proceedings  of 
Administration,  as  may  relate  to  or  affect  the  Brit 
ish  colonies  in  America,  and  to  keep  up  and  main 
tain  a  correspondence  and  communication  with  our 

1  Among  their  laws  were  the  following  acts  for  internal  improvements  : 
"  For  improving  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac  River  ;  for  making  a  road 
from  the  Warm  Springs  to  Jennings  Gap  ;  for  clearing  the  Matapony ;  for 
circumventing  the  falls  of  James  River  by  a  canal  from  Westham  ;  and 
for  cutting  a  canal  across  from  Archer's  Hope  Creek  to  Queen's  Creek, 
through  Williamsburg,  to  connect  the  James  and  York  Rivera." 


160  PATRICK   HENRY. 

sister  colonies,  respecting  these  important  considera 
tions  ;  and  the  result  of  such  their  proceedings,  from 
time  to  time,  to  lay  before  this  House. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  an  instruction  to  the  said 
committee,  that  they  do,  without  delay,  inform  them 
selves  particularly  of  the  principles  and  authority  on 
which  was  constituted  a  court  of  inquiry,  said  to 
have  been  lately  held  in  Rhode  Island,  with  powers 
to  transmit  persons  accused  of  offences  committed 
in  America  to  places  beyond  the  seas  to  be  tried." 

"  The  said  resolutions  being  severally  read  a  sec 
ond  time,  were,  upon  the  question  severally  put 
thereupon,  agreed  to  by  the  house,  nemine  contradi- 
cente. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  speaker  of  this  house  do  trans 
mit  to  the  speakers  of  the  different  Assemblies  of 
the  British  colonies  on  the  continent,  copies  of  the 
said  resolutions,  and  desire  that  they  will  lay  them 
before  their  respective  Assemblies,  and  request  them 
to  appoint  some  person  or  persons  of  their  respec 
tive  bodies,  to  communicate  from  time  to  time  with 
the  said  committee." 

As  these  resolutions  were  designed  to  unite  all  the 
colonial  Assemblies  in  their  counsels,  and  to  insure 
united  action  in  every  step  of  the  controversy  with 
Great  Britain,  and  in  fact  led  to  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  American  Union,  every  incident  con 
nected  with  their  passage  is  of  the  greatest  interest. 

Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  memoir,  after  saying  that  the 
court  of  inquiry  held  in  Rhode  Island  was  consid 
ered  as  demanding  attention  by  the  Assembly,  adds : 

"  Not  thinking  our  old  and  leading  members  up 
to  the  point  of  forwardness  and  zeal  which  the  times 
required,  Mr.  Henry,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Francis 
L.  Lee,  Mr.  Carr  and  myself  agreed  to  meet  in  the 


IRRITATING  MEASURES   OF   ENGLAND.     161 

evening,  in  a  private  room  of  the  Raleigh,  to  con 
sult  on  the  state  of  things.  There  may  have  been  a 
member  or  two  more  whom  I  do  not  recollect.  We 
were  all  sensible  that  the  most  urgent  of  all  meas 
ures  was  that  of  coming  to  an  understanding  with 
all  the  other  colonies,  to  consider  the  British  claims 
as  a  common  cause  to  all,  and  to  produce  a  unity  of 
action  ;  and  for  this  purpose  that  a  committee  of 
correspondence  in  each  colony  would  be  the  best 
instrument  for  intercommunication  ;  and  that  their 
first  measure  would  probably  be,  to  propose  a  meet 
ing  of  deputies  from  every  colony,  at  some  central 
place,  who  should  be  charged  with  the  direction  of 
the  measures  which  should  be  taken  by  all.  We 
therefore  drew  up  the  resolutions  which  may  be  seen 
in  Wirt,  page  87.  The  consulting  members  pro 
posed  to  me  to  move  them,  but  I  urged  that  it 
should  be  done  by  Mr.  Carr,  my  friend  and  brother- 
in-law,  then  a  new  member,  to  whom  I  wished  an 
opportunity  should  be  given  of  making  known  to 
the  house  his  great  worth  and  talents.  It  was  so 
agreed  ;  he  moved  them ;  they  were  agreed  to  nem. 
con.,  and  a  committee  of  correspondence  appointed, 
of  whom  Peyton  Randolph,  the  speaker,  was  chair 


man." 


Mr.  Carr  was  a  member  from  the  county  of  Lou 
isa.  By  this  single  act  he  indelibly  impressed  his 
name  on  the  page  of  his  country's  history.  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  wrote  Mr.  Wirt  concerning  him : 

"  I  well  remember  the  pleasure  expressed  in  the 
countenance  and  conversation  of  the  members  gen 
erally,  on  this  debut  of  Mr.  Carr,  and  the  hopes  they 
conceived,  as  well  from  the  talents  as  the  patriotism 
it  manifested.  But  he  died  within  two  months 

after,  and  in  him  we  lost  a  powerful  fellow-laborer. 

n 


162  PATRICK  HENRY. 

His  character  was  of  a  high  order :  a  spotless  in 
tegrity,  sound  judgment,  handsome  imagination,  en 
riched  by  education  and  reading,  quick  and  clear  in 
his  conceptions,  of  correct  and  ready  elocution,  im 
pressing  every  hearer  with  the  sincerity  of  the  heart 
from  which  it  flowed.  His  firmness  was  inflexible 
in  what  he  thought  right,  but  when  no  moral  prin 
ciple  was  in  the  way,  never  had  man  more  of  the 
milk  of  human  kindness,  of  indulgence,  ©f  softness, 
of  pleasantry  in  conversation  and  conduct." 

As  early  as  July  25,  1768,  Kichard  Henry  Lee,  in 
a  letter  to  John  Dickinson,1  had  suggested  the  ap 
pointment  of  such  committees  by  all  the  colonies 
to  effect  an  union  of  counsel  and  action,  and  as  he 
and  Mr.  Henry  were  in  thorough  accord  in  their 
views,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  they  had  wait 
ed  to  make  the  move  in  the  Assembly  till  they  saw 
the  country  ready  to  adopt  the  suggestion.  The 
court  of  inquiry  sitting  in  Bhode  Island  with  secret 
instructions  roused  the  continent,  and  enabled  these 
patriots  successfully  to  accomplish  the  first  decided 
movement  toward  a  perpetual  union. 

Mr.  Lee,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Dickinson  of  April  4, 
1773,2  refers  to  the  supposed  objects  of  this  court 
of  inquiry,  and  adds : 

"  When  our  Assembly  met  lately  they  were  not 
furnished  with  proper  documents  on  this  subject. 
But  they  have  now  adopted  a  measure,  which  from 
the  beginning  they  should  have  fixed  on,  as  leading 
to  that  union  and  perfect  understanding  with  each 
other,  on  which  the  political  salvation  of  America 
depends.  I  have  enclosed  you  that  part  of  our  jour 
nal  which  relates  to  that  matter.  You  will  observe, 

1  Life  of  R.  H.  Lee,  vol.  i.,  p.  65.  2  Idem,  90. 


IRRITATING  MEASURES   OF   ENGLAND.     163 

sir,  that  full  scope  is  given  to  a  large  and  thorough 
union  of  councils,  though  our  language  is  so  con 
trived  as  to  prevent  the  enemies  of  America  from 
bringing  this  transaction  into  the  vortex  of  treason, 
whither  they  have  carried  every  honest  attempt  to 
defend  ourselves  from  their  tyrannous  designs  to 
destroy  our  constitutional  liberty.  I  hope  sincerely 
that  every  colony  on  the  continent  will  adopt  these 
committees  of  correspondence  and  enquiry." 

An  interesting  account  of  this  Assembly,  and  of 
the  appearance  of  Mr.  Henry  and  Mr.  Lee  has  been 
preserved  by  Judge  St.  George  Tucker,  who  was  a 
student  at  the  college  in  1773.  He  wrote  to  Mr. 
Wirt  : 

"  When  I  first  saw  Mr.  Henry,  which  was  in 
March,  1773,  he  wore  a  peach  blossom  colored  coat, 
and  a  dark  wig,  which  tied  behind,  and  I  believe  a 
bag  to  it,  as  was  the  fashion  of  the  day.  When 
pointed  out  to  me  as  the  orator  of  the  Assembly  I 
looked  at  him  with  no  great  prepossession.  On  the 
opposite  side  of  the  house  sat  the  graceful  Pendle- 
ton,  and  the  harmonious  Richard  Henry  Lee,  whose 
aquiline  nose  and  Roman  profile  struck  me  much 
more  forcibly  than  that  of  Mr.  Henry,  his  rival  in 
eloquence.  The  distance  from  the  gallery  to  the 
chair,  near  which  these  distinguished  members  sat, 
did  not  permit  me  to  have  such  a  view  of  their  feat 
ures  and  countenances  as  to  leave  a  strong  impres 
sion,  except  of  Mr.  Lee's,  whose  profile  was  too  re 
markable  not  to  be  noticed  at  an  even  greater  dis 
tance.  I  was  then  between  nineteen  and  twenty, 
had  never  heard  a  speech  in  public,  except  from  the 
pulpit — had  attached  to  the  idea  I  had  formed  of 
an  orator  all  the  advantages  of  person  which  Mr. 
Pendleton  possessed,  and  even  more — all  the  ad  van- 


164  PATRICK   HENRY. 

tages  of  voice,  which  delighted  me  so  much  in  the 
speeches  of  Mr.  Lee — the  fine  polish  of  language 
which  that  gentleman  united  with  that  harmonious 
voice,  so  as  to  make  me  sometimes  fancy  that  I  was 
listening  to  some  being  inspired  with  more  than 
mortal  powers  of  embellishment — and  all  the  advan 
tages  of  gesture  which  the  celebrated  Demosthenes 
considered  as  the  first,  second,  and  third  qualifica 
tions  of  an  orator.  I  discovered  neither  of  these 
qualifications  in  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Henry,  or  in 
the  few  remarks  I  heard  him  deliver  during  the  ses 
sion.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Dabney  Carr 
made  a  motion  for  appointing  a  standing  committee 
of  correspondence  with  the  other  colonies.  I  was 
not  present  when  Mr.  Henry  spoke  on  this  ques 
tion  ;  but  was  told  by  some  of  my  fellow-collegians 
that  he  far  exceeded  Mr.  Lee,  whose  speech  suc 
ceeded  the  next  day.  Never  before  had  I  heard  what 
I  thought  oratory  ;  and  if  his  speech  was  excelled  by 
Mr.  Henry's,  the  latter  must  have  been  excellent 
indeed.  This  was  the  only  subject,  that  I  recollect, 
which  called  forth  the  talents  of  the  members  dur 
ing  that  session,  and  there  was  too  much  unanimity 
to  have  elicited  all  the  strength  of  any  one  of  them." 

It  was  about  this  time,  and  doubtless  on  this  oc 
casion,  that  the  following  incident  occurred,  which 
was  related  to  Judge  Roane,  as  he  informed  Mi'. 
Wirt,  by  Major  Scott.  Judge  Roane  says  : 1  "  Mr. 
Henry  was  declaiming  against  the  British  King  and 
Ministry,  and  such  was  the  effect  of  his  eloquence 
that  all  at  once  the  spectators  in  the  gallery  rushed 
out  It  was  at  first  supposed  that  the  house  was 
on  fire.  Not  so.  But  some  of  the  most  promi 
nent  of  these  spectators  ran  up  into  the  cupola 

1  MS.  Letter. 


IRRITATING  MEASURES   OF   ENGLAND.     165 

and  dowsed  the  royal  flag  which  was  there  sus 
pended  ! " 

On  March  1 5,  the  address,  disapproving  the  con 
duct  of  the  Governor  as  to  the  irregular  trial  of  the 
Pittsylvania  prisoners,  was  presented  to  him  by  the 
whole  house,  and  elicited  a  rude  answer,  and  a  pro 
rogation  of  the  body  after  a  session  of  only  eleven 
days. 

The  Committee  of  Correspondence  met  the  next 
day,  and  prepared  a  circular  to  the  speakers  of  the 
other  colonies,  enclosing  to  each  a  copy  of  the  reso 
lutions  inviting  correspondence,  and  directed  their 
chairman  to  forward  them  by  expresses. 

The  proposal  was  received  by  the  several  Assem 
blies  as  a  happy  suggestion,  and  similar  committees 
were  appointed  by  them  as  they  had  opportunity, 
and  often  in  the  language  employed  by  Virginia.1 
Some  of  the  replies  were  very  complimentary  to  the 
patriotic  course  pursued  by  Virginia  during  the 
entire  controversy.  The  Connecticut  committee 
wrote  August  10,  1773.  "The  House  of  Eepresent- 
atives  of  this  colony  have  fully  adopted  the  meas 
ure  proposed  by  your  patriotic  House  of  Burgesses, 
and  with  pleasure  follow  the  lead  given,  and  example 
set,  by  the  fathers  of  the  people  in  the  ancient,  free, 
and  loyal  colony  of  Virginia." 

The  Massachusetts  Assembly  on  May  27,  1773, 
among  their  resolutions  in  reply,  said  :  "  That  this 
house  have  a  very  grateful  sense  of  the  obligations 
they  are  under  to  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  Vir 
ginia,  for  the  vigilance,  firmness  and  wisdom,  which 
they  have  discovered  at  all  times  in  support  of  the 

1  The  correspondence  of  the  committees  is  to  be  found  in  Calendar  of 
Virginia  State  Papers,  vol.  viii. 


166  PATRICK   HENRY. 

rights  and  liberties  of  the  American  colonies,  and 
do  heartily  concur  with  them  in  their  said  judicious 
and  spirited  resolves." 

The  Assembly  of  Delaware,  on  October  23,  1773, 
used  similar  language. 

The  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  on  December  8, 

1773,  resolved:  "That  the  vigilance  which  the  hon 
orable   House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia  have  dis 
played  in  attending  to  every  encroachment  upon  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  America,  and  the  wisdom 
and  vigor  with  which  they  have  always  opposed 
such  encroachments,  are  worthy  the  imitation,  and 
merit  the  gratitude,  of  all  their  sister  colonies,  and 
in  no  instance  more  particularly  than  in  the  meas 
ure   proposed   for   appointing    corresponding  com 
mittees  in  every  colony,  by  which  such  harmony 
and  communication  will  be  established  among  them, 
that  they  will  at  all  times  be  ready  to  exert  their 
united   efforts,  and   most   strenuous   endeavors,  to 
preserve  the  just  rights  and  liberties  of  the  Ameri 
can  colonies,  which  appear  of  late  to  be  so  system 
atically  invaded." 

The  Speaker  of  the  New  York  Assembly,  who  was 
the  first  to  reply,  wrote  April  24, 1773  :  "  We  have 
no  committee  of  correspondence  of  the  same  kind 
with  yours  appointed,  but  as  soon  as  our  Assembly 
meets  shall  lay  your  letter  before  them."  The  As 
sembly  of  that  colony  did  not  act  till  January  20, 

1774,  when  they  appointed  a  committee  and  directed 
their  Speaker  in  transmitting  their  action,  to  "  re 
turn  the  thanks  of  this  house  to  the  Burgesses  of 
Virginia  for  their  early  attention  to  the  liberties 
of  America." 

The  replies  of  the  several  Assemblies  demonstrate 


IRRITATING  MEASURES   OF   ENGLAND.     167 

the  fact,  that  Virginia  is  entitled  to  the  honor  of 
successfully  inaugurating  these  committees  as  a 
means  of  effecting  the  union  of  the  colonies.  It  is 
not  claimed  for  her  that  she  first  suggested  commit 
tees  to  conduct  political  correspondence.  They  had 
been  used  as  far  back  as  the  contests  between  Par 
liament  and  the  Stuarts,1  and  had  been  for  many 
years  the  instruments  of  communication  with  the 
colonial  agents  in  London.  Massachusetts,  under 
the  lead  of  Samuel  Adams  in  1772,  had  been  united 
in  political  action  by  committees  of  correspondence 
appointed  by  the  several  towns,  and  her  Assembly 
under  the  same  great  leader,  had  in  1770,  and  1771, 
appointed  committees  to  communicate  for  the  time 
with  the  Speakers  of  the  other  colonies.  Nor  was 
the  idea  of  a  union  of  the  colonies  original  with 
Virginia.  It  had  been  urged  by  Franklin,  as  we 
have  seen,  as  far  back  as  1754,  before  their  liberties 
had  been  endangered  by  British  aggressions,  and 
had  been  constantly  suggested  since  the  passage  of 
the  Stamp  Act,  in  the  public  prints  and  otherwise. 

The  honor  due  to  Virginia,  and  fully  accorded  her 
at  the  time,  was,  that  she  brought  about  the  long- 
desired  union  by  proposing  permanent  committees 
of  correspondence  between  the  several  colonial  As 
semblies.  Samuel  Adams  wrote  R.  H.  Lee,  April 
10,  1773  :  "  The  reception  of  the  truly  patriotic  re 
solves  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia  glad 
dens  the  hearts  of  all  who  are  friends  to  liberty. 
.  .  .  I  hope  you  will  have  the  hearty  concurrence 
of  every  assembly  on  the  continent.  It  is  a  measure 
which  will  be  attended  with  great  and  good  conse 
quences."  A  writer  in  the  New  Hampshire  Gazette, 

1  Adolphus's  History  of  England,  ii. ,  24. 


168  PATRICK   HENRY. 

June  18,  1773,  said  of  the  plan:  "Heaven  itself 
seemed  to  have  dictated  it  to  the  noble  Virginians. 
O  Americans,  embrace  this  plan  of  union  as  your 
life.  It  will  work  out  your  political  salvation." 
The  committee  of  Connecticut  wrote,  March  8, 
1774  :  "  We  consider  with  pleasure  the  steps  taken 
by  your  worthy  House  of  Burgesses,  in  appointing 
a  committee  to  keep  up  a  regular  correspondence 
with  your  sister  colonies,  now  adopted  by  nearly  all 
on  the  continent,  as  a  basis  on  which  the  most  last 
ing  and  beneficial  union  may  be  formed  and  sup 
ported." 

The  importance  of  the  measure  as  adopted  by  the 
colonies  was  recognized  at  once  by  the  English  Gov 
ernment,  and  William  Lee  wrote  from  London,  Jan 
uary  1,  1774,  that  it  "struck  a  greater  panic  into 
the  Ministers  than  anything  that  had  taken  place 
since  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act." l 

It  is  interesting  to  note,  that  in  transmitting  these 
resolutions  the  Virginia  Committee  also  inclosed  the 
Act  against  forging  and  circulating  counterfeit 
money,  and  asked  that  a  similar  act  be  passed  by 
the  other  colonies  for  their  mutual  protection,  thus 
inviting  the  first  act  of  united  legislation.  Favor 
able  action  was  taken  in  response  to  this  proposal, 
and  the  Connecticut  Committee  suggested  a  uni 
formity  of  laws  as  to  their  currency,  and  other 
general  concerns,  as  a  measure  which  would  have 
a  happy  tendency  toward  forming  and  strengthen 
ing  a  union  of  the  colonies. 

The  Rhode  Island  Commission,  which  caused  so 
much  uneasiness,  became  themselves  uneasy  on  dis 
covering  the  spirit  aroused  among  the  people. 

1  Campbell's  History  of  Virginia,  570. 


IRRITATING  MEASURES   OF  ENGLAND.     169 

They  adjourned  in  June,  1773,  without  having  or 
dered  any  arrests,  after  adopting  an  elaborate  re 
port,  which  conceded  the  illegal  conduct  of  the 
commander  of  the  Gaspee  in  his  indiscriminate  de 
tention  of  vessels. 

Thus  ended  the  effort  to  rule  the  colonies  by 
Royal  Instructions,  an  ill-advised  system,  which, 
instead  of  intimidating,  drove  America  into  a  closer 
union  and  a  stouter  resistance. 

In  the  meanwhile  important  events  had  taken 
place  in  England.  The  refusal  of  the  colonies  to 
buy  tea  exported  from  England  had,  with  other 
causes,  greatly  embarrassed  the  East  India  Com 
pany,  which  had  accumulated  17,000,000  pounds  of 
tea  in  their  warehouses  for  which  they  had  no  mar 
ket.  Their  embarrassment  seriously  affected  the 
business  of  the  kingdom,  and  threatened  a  financial 

o 

panic.  In  this  state  of  affairs,  the  company  ap 
plied  to  Parliament  on  March  2,  1773,  for  a  loan  of 
£1,500,000.  On  April  27,  Lord  North  proposed, 
for  the  relief  of  the  company,  that  they  be  allowed 
to  export  their  tea  to  America  free  of  all  duties 
collectible  in  England,  but  subject  to  the  duty  of 
three  pence  per  pound  collectible  in  the  colonies. 
The  company  asked  that  the  duty  payable  in  Amer 
ica  be  remitted,  as  it  brought  in  no  revenue,  and  an 
equivalent  duty  be  retained  in  England ;  but  Lord 
North,  speaking  the  mind  of  the  King,  refused. 
It  was  resolved  to  retain  this  as  an  exercise  of  the 
right  of  taxation,  and  as  the  repeal  of  the  duty  in 
England  would  enable  the  company  to  undersell 
other  nations,  it  was  confidently  believed  by  the 
Ministry  that  the  colonies  would  buy  of  the  com 
pany. 


170  PATRICK   HENRY. 

At  the  same  time  the  King,  in  answering  the  pe 
titions  from  Massachusetts,  asking  that  their  Gov 
ernor  and  judges  be  no  longer  paid  out  of  the 
royal  treasury  but  be  allowed  to  be  supported  by 
the  colony,  expressed  his  displeasure  that  they 
should  call  in  question,  in  their  petitions,  the  right  of 
Parliament  to  bind  the  colonies  in  all  cases  whatso 
ever,  which  he  declared  to  be  essential  to  the  dig 
nity  of  the  Crown.  Lord  Dartmouth  had  succeeded 
Hillsborough  as  Secretary  for  the  Colonies,  and  his 
amiable  character,  and  known  opposition  to  coer 
cion,  had  caused  a  strong  hope  that  the  policy  of 
England  would  be  changed  toward  them.  They 
now  found  themselves  bitterly  disappointed,  and 
the  most  insidious  plan  adopted  to  induce  them  to 
submit  to  the  tax  imposed. 

The  East  India  Company,  after  some  hesitation, 
suspecting  they  were  being  used  as  a  "  cat's  paw  to 
establish  the  American  duty," 1  determined  to  ship 
cargoes  of  tea  to  Boston,  Charleston,  New  York,  and 
Philadelphia.  The  news  of  the  Tea  Act  and  of  the 
purpose  of  the  East  India  Company,  caused  great 
excitement  and  indignation  throughout  the  colonies. 
The  determination  of  the  Americans  not  to  pay  the 
tax  was  as  fixed,  as  was  that  of  the  King  to  collect 
it,  and  now  they  had  an  organization,  in  their  Com 
mittees  of  Correspondence,  which  thoroughly  united 
the  people  in  their  measures  of  resistance. 

On  October  21,  1773,  the  Massachusetts  Commit 
tee  wrote  urging  increased  vigilance,  united  meas 
ures  of  opposition,  and  united  support  of  any  colony 
which  might  be  singled  out  for  oppression,  as  "  the 

1  Letter  of  John  Norton  to  Virginia  committee,  dated  July  6,  1773. 
London. 


IRRITATING   MEASURES   OF  ENGLAND.     171 

true  design  of  the  establishment  of  our  Committees 
of  Correspondence."  They  suggested  that  if  Eng 
land  should  be  drawn  into  a  European  war  she 
would  need  aid  from  the  colonies,  and  such  aid 
should  be  withheld  till  their  rights  were  restored, 
and  secured  on  a  permanent  foundation.  They  sug 
gested  that  the  Committees  should  at  once  consult 
as  to  the  extent  of  the  rights  to  be  insisted  on,  and 
they  named  one,  which  every  colony  had  explicitly 
asserted,  and  should  never  abandon,  "  the  sole  and 
inalienable  right  to  give  and  grant  their  own 
money,  and  to  appropriate  it  to  such  purposes  as 
they  judge  proper."  They  added:  u  We  are  far 
from  desiring  the  connection  between  Great  Britain 
and  America  should  be  broken.  Esto  perpetua  is 
our  most  ardent  wish  ;  but  upon  the  terms  only  of 
equal  liberty."  They  closed  with  a  reference  to  the 
proposed  shipments  of  tea,  and  urged  each  colony  to 
"  take  effectual  methods  to  prevent  this  measure 
from  having  its  designed  effect." 

On  November  4,  1773,  the  Connecticut  Commit 
tee  wrote,  expressing  their  uneasiness  as  to  the  con 
sequences  of  the  arrival,  daily  expected,  of  the  teas 
of  the  East  India  Company,  but  declaring  the  ut 
most  confidence  in  the  firmness  and  virtue  of  the  in 
habitants  of  the  towns  to  which  they  had  been 
shipped. 

The  eyes  of  all  America  were  directed  to  the  four 
ports  to  which  the  tea  had  been  consigned,  and  the 
Connecticut  Committee  but  expressed  the  general 
feeling.  Nor  was  the  general  confidence  misplaced. 
On  October  18, 1773,  a  great  town  meeting  in  Phila 
delphia  requested  of  the  consignees  the  resignation 
of  their  commission,  and  they  deemed  it  best  to  com- 


172  PATRICK  HENRY. 

ply.  The  people  of  Charleston  in  public  meeting 
received  the  resignation  of  the  consignees  at  that 
port.  The  patriots  of  New  York  in  their  City  Hall 
resolved  that  no  tea  should  be  landed  there.  The 
people  of  Boston,  following  the  action  of  Philadel 
phia,  were  met  with  a  peremptory  refusal  at  the 
hands  of  the  consignees.  It  seemed  that  in  all  the 
difficulties  which  arose  in  the  prolonged  controversy 
with  the  mother  country,  Boston  was  to  bear  the 
brunt.  On  November  28,  1773,  a  vessel  containing 
tea  arrived  at  that  port,  and  was  followed  in  a  few 
days  by  two  others.  A  guard  of  citizens  prevented 
their  landing.  Strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  in 
duce  their  return  without  unloading,  and  when  ev 
ery  effort  had  failed,  a  band  of  men  disguised  as  In 
dians,  on  the  night  of  December  16,  boarded  the 
vessels,  cut  open  the  tea-chests,  and  threw  the  entire 
cargo  overboard.1  The  ships  sent  to  the  other  ports 
were  either  forced  to  return  unloaded,  or  their  car 
goes  were  seized  by  the  collectors,  stored  in  damp 
cellars,  and  destroyed. 

All  America  applauded  the  firmness  of  the  four 
cities,  and  awaited  with  anxiety  the  effect  of  their 
conduct  upon  the  British  Government.  That  Gov 
ernment  was  enraged  upon  learning  what  had  hap 
pened.  The  King  declared  the  Constitution  had 
been  subverted.  Lord  North  pronounced  it  the  cul 
mination  of  years  of  riot  and  confusion.  Parlia 
ment  treated  it  as  actual  rebellion,  and  determined 
to  inflict  summary  punishment.  Although  all  four 
cities  had  refused  to  permit  the  landing  of  the  tea, 
Boston  was  selected  as  the  object  of  vengeance  ;  not 
only  because  her  course  was  the  most  obnoxious, 

1  Rise  of  the  Republic,  302-9. 


IRRITATING  MEASURES   OF  ENGLAND.     173 

but  with  the  expectation  that  the  colonies  would 
leave  her  to  her  fate,  and  that  thus  her  stubborn 
spirit  would  be  broken. 

On  March  14,  1774,  Lord  North  asked  leave  to 
bring  in  a  bill  to  close  the  port  of  Boston,  to  go  in 
to  effect  June  1,  and  to  continue  till  payment  was 
made  for  the  tea  destroyed,  and  the  Acts  of  Parlia 
ment  were  obeyed.  It  was  given  out  that  it  would 
be  enforced  by  an  army  and  navy.  Eloquent  pro 
tests  were  made  by  Burke,  Sawbridge,  and  Dowdes- 
well,  but  the  bill  passed  without  a  division.  In 
the  House  of  Lords  it  met  with  less  opposition,  and 
wras  passed  March  30,  after  a  long  report  had  been 
made  of  "  the  several  proceedings  in  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  in  opposition  to  the  sovereignty 
of  his  Majesty  in  his  Parliament  of  Great  Britain 
over  that  province  ;  and  also  what  had  passed  in 
this  House  relative  thereto,  from  1st  day  of  January, 
1764."  This  exhaustive  report,  which  will  ever  be 
a  tribute  of  the  highest  honor  to  that  noble  colony, 
was  used  as  an  indictment  upon  which  her  people 
were  at  once  tried  and  condemned,  without  an  oppor 
tunity  of  being  heard. 

The  noble  Earl  of  Chatham,  unable  to  raise  his 
voice  in  opposition  on  the  floor,  protested  with  his 
pen  against  the  "  mad  and  cruel  measure."  "  Repa 
ration,"  said  he,  "  ought  first  to  be  demanded  in  a 
solemn  manner,  and  refused  by  the  town  and  magis 
tracy  of  Boston,  before  such  a  bill  of  pains  and 
penalties  can  be  called  just.  Perhaps  a  fatal  de 
sire  has  taken  possession  of  the  heart  of  the  Gov 
ernment  to  take  advantage  of  a  tumult,  in  order  to 
crush  the  spirit  of  liberty  among  the  Americans."  l 

1  Correspondence  of  the  Earl  of  Chatham,  iv. ,  336. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

UNION  OF  AMERICAN  OPPOSITION— 1774. 

Meeting  of  House  of  Burgesses,  May,  1774. — Trouble  with  In 
dians  and  Pennsylvania. — Eefusal  of  House  to  Raise  Regular 
Troops. — Consultation  of  Patriots  About  Political  Affairs. — 
Boston  Port  Bill  Arrives. — Notice  Taken  of  It. — Dissolution  of 
the  House. — Action  of  Members  Afterward. — Non-importation 
and  Annual  Congress  Recommended,  with  Delegates  to  be 
Elected  by  a  Convention. — Mr.  Heniy  the  Leader  in  the  Meas 
ures. — Splendid  Tribute  to  Him  by  George  Mason. — Tributes 
to  Virginia  by  Other  Colonies. — Effect  of  the  Fast  Day  Recom 
mended. — Tyrannous  Acts  of  Parliament  in  Reference  to  Mas 
sachusetts  and  the  Colonies. — General  Gage  Sent  with  Four 
Regiments  to  Enforce  Them. — Firmness  of  the  People.— In 
structions  of  Hanover  County  to  Patrick  Henry  and  John  Syme, 
Delegates  to  the  Convention. — Commercial  Non-intercourse 
Relied  on  for  Redress  of  Grievances. — Boston  Fed  by  the  Pa 
triots. — Virginia  Convention. — Delegates  to  Congress. — In 
structions  to  Them. 

THE  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  met  on  May  5, 
1774,  at  the  call  of  the  Governor,  who  had  gotten 
the  colony  into  serious  trouble,  both  with  the  col 
ony  of  Pennsylvania  and  with  the  warlike  tribes  of 
Indians  on  the  Ohio.  Pennsylvania  had  been  part 
ly  carved  out  of  the  northern  territory  of  Virginia, 
but  by  reason  of  an  inexcusable  blunder  in  drawing 
her  charter,  the  dividing  line  could  not  be  deter 
mined. 

The  northern  line  was  along  the  forty-second  de 
gree  of  latitude.  The  eastern  boundary  was  the 
Delaware  River  to  a  point  twelve  miles  north  of 
New  Castle,  and  thence  southward,  the  arc  of  a 


UNION  OF   AMERICAN  OPPOSITION.        175 

circle  having  New  Castle  for  its  centre,  and  a  radius 
of  twelve  miles,  the  arc  stretching  from  the  Dela 
ware  River  westward,  till  it  intersected  the  thirty- 
ninth  degree  of  latitude.  The  southern  line  was  to 
be  from  this  point  of  intersection  westward  five 
degrees,  and  the  western  was  to  be  five  degrees 
from  the  eastern  line.  The  trouble  arose  from 
the  fact  that  an  arc  made  with  a  radius  of  twelve 
miles,  and  New  Castle  as  a  centre,  fell  far  short 
of  touching  the  thirty-ninth  degree  of  latitude. 
Pennsylvania  claimed,  however,  a  territory  three 
degrees  wide  from  north  to  south,  and  a  line  on 
the  west  which  would  take  in  Fort  Pitt,  now 
Pittsburg,  built  by  the  Virginians  in  1754.1  These 
claims  were  disputed  by  Virginia,  and  had  been  re 
ferred  to  the  British  Government  for  settlement, 
but  had  not  been  acted  on.  In  the  meanwhile 
Pennsylvania  was  exercising  jurisdiction  over  Fort 
Pitt.2  In  the  summer  of  1773  Lord  Dunmore  vis 
ited  the  Fort,  and  determined  to  re-establish  the 
authority  of  Virginia  over  it  and  the  adjacent  ter 
ritory.  He  found  a  fit  instrument  for  his  design  in 
Dr.  John  Connolly,  a  man  of  considerable  intelli 
gence,  but  devoid  of  principle.  Lord  Dunmore 
gave  him  a  commission  to  gather  a  military  force, 
with  which  to  hold  the  disputed  territory  around 
Fort  Pitt  for  Virginia,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
Pennsylvania  authorities.3  He  not  only  committed 
violence  upon  all  persons  within  this  territory  who 
adhered  to  Pennsylvania,  but  killed  several  of  the 
friendly  Indians,4  and  thus  provoked  both  civil 

1  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  i. ,  277. 

2  Pennpylvania  Archives,  iv.,  479. 

3  Idem,  477  and  485.  4  Idem,  528. 


176  PATRICK   HENRY. 

strife  and  an  Indian  war.  Having  thus  brought 
these  accumulated  troubles  on  the  colony,  the  Gov 
ernor  appealed  to  the  Assembly  to  raise  a  regular 
force  to  withstand  the  authorities  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  to  chastise  the  Indians,  who  were  attacking  the 
western  settlements. 

The  Assembly  declined  to  put  regular  troops  at 
his  command,  and  instead,  recommended  "  to  his  Ex 
cellency,  the  fixing  a  temporary  line  between  this 
colony  and  Pennsylvania,  until  his  Majesty  shall  di 
rect  the  true  and  proper  boundary  to  be  established ; " 
and  requested  him,  "  to  exert  the  powers  vested  in 
him  by  the  act  of  Assembly  for  making  provision 
against  invasions  and  insurrections,  which  we  doubt 
not  will  be  sufficient  for  the  present  to  repel  the  at 
tacks  of  the  Indians." 

The  House  then  devoted  itself  Industriously  to 
its  ordinary  business,  intending  to  reserve  all  notice 
of  the  Tea  Act  and  its  consequences  till  the  close  of 
the  session,  for  fear  of  a  dissolution.  But  the  crit 
ical  condition  of  affairs  was  the  subject  of  earnest 
consultation  between  Mr.  Henry  and  the  most  ad 
vanced  of  the  patriots  in  the  body.  Before  the  re 
sults  of  these  consultations  were  made  public,  news 
of  the  Boston  Port  Bill  arrived,  and  it  was  deter 
mined  to  take  notice  of  it  at  once,  as  it  was  to  take 
effect  on  June  1.  Mr.  Jefferson  has  recorded  in  his 
memoir  what  occurred.  He  says  : 

"  The  lead  in  the  House,  on  these  subjects,  being 
no  longer  left  to  the  old  members,  Mr.  Henry,  R. 
H.  Lee,  Fr.  L.  Lee,  three  or  four  other  members 
whom  I  do  not  recollect,  and  myself,  agreeing 
that  we  must  boldly  take  an  unequivocal  stand  in 
the  line  with  Massachusetts,  determined  to  meet  and 


UNION  OF  AMERICAN   OPPOSITION.        177 

consult  on  the  proper  measures,  in  the  council  cham 
ber,  for  the  benefit  of  the  library  in  that  room.  We 
were  under  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  arousing 
our  people  from  the  lethargy  into  which  they  had 
fallen,  as  to  passing  events ;  and  thought  that  the 
appointment  of  a  day  of  general  fasting  and 
prayer,  would  be  most  likely  to  call  up  and  alarm 
their  attention.  No  example  of  such  a  solemnity 
had  existed  since  the  days  of  our  distresses  in  the 
war  of  '55,  since  which  a  new  generation  had  grown 
up.  With  the  help  therefore  of  Rushworth,  whom 
we  rummaged  over  for  the  revolutionary  precedents 
and  forms  of  the  Puritans  of  that  day,  preserved  by 
him,  we  cooked  up  a  resolution,  somewhat  modern 
izing  their  phrazes,  for  appointing  the  first  day  of 
June,  on  which  the  Port  Bill  was  to  commence,  for 
a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,  to  implore 
Heaven  to  avert  from  us  the  evils  of  civil  war,  to 
inspire  us  with  firmness  in  support  of  our  rights,  and 
to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  King  and  Parliament  to 
moderation  and  justice.  To  give  greater  emphasis 
to  our  proposition,  we  agreed  to  wait  the  next  morn 
ing  on  Mr.  Nicholas,  whose  grave  and  religious 
character  was  more  in  unison  with  the  tone  of  our 
resolution,  and  to  solicit  him  to  move  it.  We  ac 
cordingly  went  to  him  in  the  morning.  He  moved 
it  the  same  day ;  the  first  of  June  was  proposed ; 
and  it  passed  without  opposition." 

The  Journal  of  May  24,  contains  the  following : 

"  This  house  being  deeply  impressed  with  appre 
hension  of  the  great  dangers  to  be  derived  to  Brit 
ish  America,  from  the  hostile  invasion  of  the  City 
of  Boston,  in  our  sister  colony  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  whose  commerce  and  harbor  are,  on  the  first 
day  of  June  next,  to  be  stopped  by  an  armed  force, 
deem  it  highly  necessary  that  the  said  first  day  of 


178  PATRICK   HENRY. 

June  next  be  set  apart  by  the  members  of  this 
house,  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer, 
devoutly  to  implore  the  Divine  interposition  for 
averting  the  heavy  calamity  which  threatens  de 
struction  to  our  civil  rights,  and  the  evils  of  civil 
war;  to  give  us  one  heart  and  one  mind  firmly  to 
oppose,  by  all  just  and  proper  means,  every  injury 
to  American  rights ;  and  that  the  minds  of  his  maj 
esty  and  his  parliament  may  be  inspired  from  above 
with  wisdom,  moderation,  and  justice,  to  remove 
from  the  loyal  people  of  America  all  cause  of  dan 
ger,  from  a  continued  pursuit  of  measures  pregnant 
with  their  ruin. 

"  Ordered  therefore,  That  the  members  of  this 
House  do  attend  in  their  places,  at  the  hour  of  ten 
in  the  forenoon,  on  the  said  first  day  of  June  next, 
in  order  to  proceed  with  the  Speaker  and  the  mace 
to  the  church  in  this  city,  for  the  purpose  afore 
said  :  and  that  the  E-ev.  Mr.  Price  be  appointed,  to 
read  prayers,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gwatkin1  to  preach 
a  sermon  suitable  to  the  occasion. 

"  Ordered,  That  this  order  be  forthwith  printed 
and  published." 

These  resolves  were  printed  in  the  Williamsburg 
Gazette  of  May  26th,  and  on  seeing  them  the  Gov 
ernor  ordered  the  House  to  attend  him  immediately 
in  the  Council  Chamber,  and  said  : 

"  Mr.  Speaker  and  Gentlemen  of  the  House  of 
Burgesses.  I  have  in  my  hand  a  paper  published 
by  order  of  your  House,  conceived  in  such  terms 
as  reflect  highly  upon  his  Majesty,  and  the  Parlia 
ment  of  Great  Britain,  which  makes  it  necessary  for 
me  to  dissolve  you ;  and  you  are  dissolved  accord- 
ingly." 

1  Mr.  Gwatkin  excused  himself  from  sickness,  and  Mr.  Price  was  re 
quested  to  preach  the  sermon. 


UNION   OF   AMERICAN   OPPOSITION.        179 

The  House,  at  the  beginning  of  that  day's  session, 
had  fixed  on  the  same  day  in  the  next  week  for  the 
consideration  of  the  papers  laid  before  them  by  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence,  but  the  measures  to 
be  taken  had  already  been  agreed  on  by  the  lead 
ers.  A  member  writing  to  a  London  correspondent 
May  20,  said  of  these  measures :  "  The  plan  pro 
posed  is  extensive ;  it  is  wise,  and  I  hope  under 
God,  it  will  not  fail  of  success."  l  On  the  day  after 
their  dissolution  the  members  met  in  the  public 
room  at  the  Raleigh  Tavern,  and  adopted  the  fol 
lowing  paper,  which  indicated  this  plan  : 

"  We,  his  Majesty's  most  dutiful  and  loyal  sub 
jects,  the  late  representatives  of  the  good  people  of 
this  country,  having  been  deprived,  by  the  sudden 
interposition  of  the  executive  part  of  this  govern 
ment,  from  giving  our  countrymen  the  advice  we 
wished  to  convey  to  them  in  a  legislative  capacity, 
find  ourselves  under  the  hard  necessity  of  adopting 
this,  the  only  method  we  have  left,  of  pointing  out 
to  our  countrymen  such  measures  as,  in  our  opinion, 
are  best  fitted  to  secure  our  dearest  rights  and  lib 
erty  from  destruction,  by  the  heavy  hand  of  power 
now  lifted  against  North  America.  •  With  much 
grief  we  find  that  our  dutiful  applications  to  Great 
Britain  for  security  of  our  just,  ancient,  and  consti 
tutional  rights,  have  been  not  only  disregarded,  but 
that  a  determined  system  is  formed  and  pressed  for 
reducing  the  inhabitants  of  British  America  to  sla 
very,  by  subjecting  them  to  the  payment  of  taxes, 
imposed  without  the  consent  of  the  people  or  their 
representatives ;  and  that  in  pursuit  of  this  system 
we  find  the  act  of  the  British  parliament,  lately 
passed,  for  stopping  the  harbor  and  commerce  of 

1  American  Archives,  4th  series,  vol.  i.,  340. 


180  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Boston,  in  our  sister  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
until  the  people  there  submit  to  such  unconstitu 
tional  taxes,  which  act  most  violently  and  arbi 
trarily  deprives  them  of  their  property,  in  wharves 
erected  by  private  persons,  at  their  own  great  and 
proper  expense  ;  which  act  is,  in  our  opinion,  a  most 
dangerous  attempt  to  destroy  the  constitutional  lib 
erty  and  rights  of  all  North  America.  It  is  farther 
our  opinion,  that  as  tea  on  its  importation  to  Amer 
ica  is  charged  with  a  duty,  imposed  by  parliament 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue  without  the 
consent  of  the  people,  it  ought  not  to  be  used  by 
any  person  who  wishes  well  to  the  constitutional 
rights  and  liberty  of  British  America.  And  where 
as  the  India  Company  have  ungenerously  attempted 
the  ruin  of  America,  by  sending  many  ships  loaded 
with  tea  into  the  colonies,  thereby  intending  to  fix  a 
precedent  in  favor  of  arbitrary  taxation,  we  deem 
it  highly  proper,  and  do  accordingly  recommend  it 
strongly  to  our  countrymen,  not  to  purchase  or  use 
any  kind  of  East  India  commodity  whatsoever,  ex 
cept  saltpetre  and  spices,  until  the  grievances  of 
America  are  redressed.  We  are  farther  clearly  of 
opinion,  that  an  attack  made  on  one  of  our  sister 
colonies,  to  compel  submission  to  arbitrary  taxes,  is 
an  attack  made  on  all  British  America,  and  threat 
ens  ruin  to  the  rights  of  all,  unless  the  united 
wisdom  of  the  whole  be  applied.  And  for  this 
purpose  it  is  recommended  to  the  committee  of  cor 
respondence,  that  they  communicate  with  their  sev 
eral  corresponding  committees  on  the  expediency  of 
appointing  deputies  from  the  several  colonies  of 
British  America,  to  meet  in  general  congress,  at 
such  place  annually  as  shall  be  thought  most  con 
venient  ;  there  to  deliberate  on  those  general  meas 
ures  which  the  united  interests  of  America  may  from 
time  to  time  require. 

A  tender  regard  for  the  interests  of  our  fellow 


UNION  OF  AMERICAN   OPPOSITION.        181 

subjects,  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  Great 
Britain,  prevents  us  from  going  farther  at  this  time  ; 
most  earnestly  hoping  that  the  unconstitutional 
principle  of  taxing  the  colonies  without  their  con 
sent,  will  not  be  persisted  in,  thereby  to  compel  us, 
against  our  will,  to  avoid  all  commercial  intercourse 
with  Britain.  Wishing  them  and  our  people  free 
and  happy,  we  are  their  affectionate  friends,  the  late 
representatives  of  Virginia." 

The  Gazette  in  publishing  this  paper  adds  :  "  The 
above  was  immediately  signed  by  the  honorable  the 
Speaker,  and  all  the  members  of  the  House  of  Bur 
gesses,  as  well  as  by  a  number  of  clergymen,  and 
other  inhabitants  of  the  colony,  who  after  having 
maturely  considered  the  contents  of  the  association, 
did  most  cordially  approve  and  accede  thereto." 

In  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  this 
meeting,  the  committee  sent  to  the  committees  of  the 
other  twelve  colonies  the  following  letter,  signed  by 
the  sub-committee  of  correspondence. 

"  WILLIAMSBURG,  May  28th,  1774. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  The  enclosed  papers  will  explain  to 
you  our  present  political  state  here,  with  respect  to 
the  unhappy  dispute  with  our  mother  country. 
The  propriety  of  appointing  deputies  from  the 
several  colonies  of  British  America  to  meet  annually 
in  general  congress,  appears  to  be  a  measure  ex 
tremely  important  and  extensively  useful,  as  it 
tends  so  effectually  to  obtain  the  united  wisdom  of 
the  whole  in  every  case  of  general  concern.  We 
are  desired  to  obtain  your  sentiments  on  this  subject 
which  you  will  be  pleased  to  furnish  us  with.  Be 
ing  very  desirous  of  communicating  to  you  the 
opinion  and  conduct  of  the  late  representatives  on 


182  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  present  posture  of  American  affairs,  as  quickly 
as  possible,  we  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  a  future  let 
ter  on  these  subjects. 

"  We  are  with  great  respect  your  most  obfc  su, 

"  PEYTON  RANDOLPH, 
"  Ro.  C.  NICHOLAS, 
"  DUDLEY  DIGGES." 

On  May  31,  the  committee  issued  an  address  to 
the  several  counties  of  Virginia,  urging  the  ap 
pointment  of  delegates  to  a  convention  to  meet  at 
Williamsburg  on  August  1,  to  consult  upon  the 
critical  condition  of  public  affairs,  and  to  appoint 
representatives  to  the  congress. 

The  plan  thus  proposed  by  the  members  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses  was  indeed  extensive  and  wise. 
It  was  to  unite  all  the  colonies  in  their  resistance  to 
Great  Britain,  treating  an  attack  upon  one  colony 
as  an  attack  upon  all.  Their  union  to  be  perfected, 
and  their  affairs  guided,  by  an  annual  congress, 
chosen  by  conventions,  bodies  representing  the  sov 
ereign  people  which  were  not  under  the  control  of 
the  royal  Governor,  and  could  not  be  dissolved  by 
him.  The  means  proposed,  as  a  last  resort,  to 
effect  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  Acts  of  Parlia 
ment,  was  a  discontinuance  of  all  commercial  inter 
course  with  England.  Thus  Virginia  held  her  posi 
tion  in  the  front  of  the  Revolutionary  movement, 
conspicuous  for  her  wisdom,  firmness,  and  conser 
vatism. 

The  leading  part  taken  by  Mr.  Henry  in  these 
measures,  and  the  greatness  to  which  he  had  at 
tained,  are  attested  by  the  following  interesting 
letter,  written  by  the  celebrated  George  Mason  to 
his  intimate  friend,  Martin  Cockburn. 


UNION   OF   AMERICAN   OPPOSITION.        183 
"  WILLIAMSBUBG,  May  26th,  1774. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  arrived  here  on  Sunday  morning 
last,  but  found  everybody's  attention  so  entirely 
engrossed  by  the  Boston  affair,  that  I  have  as  yet 
done  nothing  respecting  my  charter-rights  and,  I  am 
afraid,  shall  not  this  week. 

"  A  dissolution  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  is  gener 
ally  expected ;  but  I  think  will  not  happen  before 
the  House  has  gone  through  the  public  business, 
which  will  be  late  in  June. 

"Whatever  resolves  or  measures  are  intended  for 
the  preservation  of  our  rights  and  liberties,  will  be 
reserved  for  the  conclusion  of  the  session.  Matters 
of  that  sort  here  are  conducted  and  prepared  with  a 
great  deal  of  privacy,  and  by  very  few  members,  of 
whom  Patrick  Henry  is  the  principal. 

"  At  the  request  of  the  gentlemen  concerned,  I  have 
spent  an  evening  with  them  upon  the  subject,  when 
I  had  an  opportunity  of  conversing  with  Mr.  Henry, 
and  knowing  his  sentiments ;  as  well  as  hearing 
him  speak  in  the  house  since  on  different  occasions. 
He  is  by  far  the  most  powerful  speaker  I  ever 
heard.  Every  word  he  says  not  only  engages,  but 
commands  the  attention ;  and  your  passions  are  no 
longer  your  own  when  he  addresses  them.  But  his 
eloquence  is  the  smallest  part  of  his  merit.  He  is 
in  my  opinion  the  first  man  upon  this  continent,  as 
well  in  abilities  as  public  virtues,  and  had  he  lived 
in  Rome  about  the  time  of  the  first  Punic  war,  when 
the  Roman  people  had  arrived  at  their  meridian 
glory,  and  their  virtue  not  tarnished,  Mr.  Henry's 
talents  must  have  put  him  at  the  head  of  that  glork 
ous  Commonwealth. 

"  Inclosed  you  have  the  Boston  Trade  Act,  and  a 
resolve  of  our  House  of  Burgesses.  You  will  ob 
serve  it  is  confined  to  the  members  of  their  own 
House ;  but  they  would  wish  to  see  the  example  fol 
lowed  throughout  the  country;  for  which  purpose  the 


184  PATRICK  HENRY. 

members,  at  their  own  private  expenses,  are  sending 
expresses  with  the  resolve  to  their  respective  coun 
ties.  Mr.  Massey  will  receive  a  copy  of  the  resolve 
from  Col.  Washington ;  and  should  a  day  of  prayer 
and  fasting  be  appointed  in  our  county,  please  to 
tell  my  dear  little  family  that  I  charge  them  to  pay 
strict  attention  to  it,  and  that  I  desire  my  three  eld 
est  sons,  and  my  two  eldest  daughters,  may  attend 
church  in  mourning,  if  they  have  it,  as  I  believe  they 
have. 

"  Dear  Sir,  Your  affectionate  and 

obedient  servant, 

"  G.  MASON. 

"  To  MB.  MARTIN  COCKBURN." 

This  letter  shows  Mr.  Henry  to  have  been  the 
leader  in  the  measures  proposed. 

The  action  of  the  Virginia  Burgesses  was  in  fact 
the  call  of  the  House  for  a  general  congress.  The 
paper  adopted  indicated,  that  the  advice  it  contained 
had  been  determined  on  by  the  patriot  members, 
before  the  Governor  dissolved  them.  It  was  ac 
cepted  as  the  action  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  and 
was  the  first  call  for  a  continental  congress  by  any 
colonial  Assembly,  after  the  passage  of  the  Tea  Act. 
Many  suggestions  of  a  congress  had  been  previously 
made  in  the  correspondence  and  prints  of  the  day,1 
and  on  different  days  during  the  same  month  of 
May  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  of  New  York,2  and  a 
town  meeting  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,3  had 
proposed  such  a  body.  The  idea  had  been  familiar 
to  the  people  ever  since  the  Stamp  Act  Congress. 
It  is  the  glory  of  Virginia  that  her  Burgesses  took 

1  See  these  noted  in  Rise  of  the  Republic,  331-2. 

2  Bancroft,  vii.,  40.  3  Rise  of  the  Republic,  332. 


UNION  OF  AMERICAN  OPPOSITION.       185 

the  lead  in  calling,  not  only  a  congress,  but  an  an 
nual  congress  of  the  colonies,  involving  a  permanent 
union.  The  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  followed 
her  example  June  15,  and  that  of  Massachusetts, 
June  17.1 

The  position  of  Virginia  as  the  leader  of  the  col 
onies  at  this  critical  juncture  of  their  affairs,  is 
abundantly  attested  by  the  communications  received 
from  the  several  Committees  of  Correspondence. 

On  May  13,  1774,  Samuel  Adams,  on  behalf  of 
the  citizens  of  Boston,  enclosed  to  the  Committee  of 
Correspondence  for  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  copies 
of  the  resolutions  of  the  town  meeting  of  that  date, 
asking  the  several  colonies,  "  to  stop  all  importations 
from  Great  Britain,  and  exportations  to  Great  Brit 
ain,  and  every  part  of  the  West  Indies,  till  the  act 
for  blocking  up  this  harbor  be  repealed."  Mr.  Ad 
ams  requested  that  these  copies  be  forwarded  to  the 
southward,  together  with  the  sentiments  of  Phila 
delphia  thereon. 

On  the  receipt  of  this  communication  a  town 
meeting  was  held  in  Philadelphia,  May  20,  which 
appointed  a  Committee  of  Correspondence  with  John 
Dickinson  at  its  head,  and  instructed  them  to  apply 
to  the  Governor  to  call  together  the  Assembly  of 
the  province,  and  also  to  assure  the  people  of  Bos 
ton  of  their  sympathy,  and  determination  to  adhere 
to  the  cause  of  American  liberty.  The  Philadelphia 
Committee,  replying  to  that  of  Boston  on  May  21, 
said : 

"By  what  means  this  truly  desirable  circum 
stance  of  a  reconciliation,  and  future  harmony  with 

1  Rise  of  the  Republic,  332. 


186  PATRICK   HENRY. 

our  mother  country  on  constitutional  principles  may 
be  obtained,  is  indeed  a  weighty  question,  whether 
by  the  method  you  have  suggested  of  a  non-impor 
tation  and  non-exportation  agreement,  or  by  a  gen 
eral  congress  of  deputies  from  the  different  colonies 
clearly  to  state  what  we  conceive  our  rights,  and 
make  a  claim  or  petition  of  them  to  his  Majesty,  in 
firm,  but  decent  and  dutiful  terms,  so  as  that  we 
may  know  by  what  line  to  conduct  ourselves  in  fu 
ture,  are  now  the  great  points  to  be  determined. 
The  latter  we  have  great  reason  to  think  would  be 
most  agreeable  to  the  people  of  this  province,  and 
the  first  step  that  ought  to  be  taken ;  the  former 
may  be  reserved  as  the  last  resort  should  the  other 
fail.  .  .  .  We  shall  endeavor  as  soon  as  possi 
ble  to  collect  the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  this 
province,  and  the  neighboring  colonies,  on  these 
grand  questions." 

Copies  of  these  papers  were  forwarded  to  Virginia 
through  the  Maryland  Committee,  which  wrote, 
May  25 : 

"  We  esteem  it  a  very  lucky  circumstance,  that 
your  General  Assembly  is  now  sitting,  as  it  affords 
so  good  an  opportunity  of  instantly  collecting  the 
sense  of  your  colony  on  a  point  on  which  the  liber 
ties  of  America  must  turn  ;  and  was  it  not  absolutely 
necessary  that  measures  should  be  instantly  taken, 
we  should  have  waited  with  pleasure  your  resolu 
tions,  which  we  cannot  doubt  will  be  formed  on  the 
same  generous  principles,  which  have  hitherto  ac 
tuated  your  colony  on  every  late  attempt  against 
American  Liberty." 

They  add  that  they  will  at  once  take  the  sense  of 
their  people  on  the  question  of  entire  non-importa 
tion  from  Great  Britain,  including  a  refusal  to  bring 


UNION  OF  AMERICAN  OPPOSITION.       187 

suits  for  debts  due  to  her  inhabitants,  until  the  Bos 
ton  Port  bill  be  repealed. 

The  Delaware  Committee  wrote  May  26,  suggest 
ing  a  general  congress,  and  their  confidence  that 
such  a  proposal,  by  one  of  the  principal  colonies, 
would  be  adopted  by  their  people.  They  added  : 

"  As  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony  entertain  a 
high  opinion  of  the  zeal  and  firmness  of  those  of 
your  colony  in  the  common  cause  of  America,  we 
are  persuaded  that  their  resolutions  at  this  impor 
tant  crisis  will  have  great  weight  here,  and  we  will 
be  glad  to  have  your  sentiments  thereon.7* 

These  letters  were  not  received  before  Virginia 
had  taken  the  step  suggested  by  the  Philadelphia 
and  Delaware  Committees  ;  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
had  been  determined  on  by  the  patriots  in  the  As 
sembly  under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Henry  before  the  let 
ters  were  written  to  the  Virginia  Committee. 

The  action  of  Virginia  was  applauded  to  the 
echo. 

The  Connecticut  Committee  wrote,  June  13 : 

"  The  wise,  spirited  and  seasonable  proceedings  of 
your  truly  patriotic  House  of  Burgesses,  in  early 
proposing  a  correspondence  between,  and  union  of 
the  colonies,  has  justly  merited  and  universally  re 
ceived,  the  approbation  and  grateful  acknowledg 
ments  of  British  America;  and  the  manly,  pious 
and  humane  attention  more  lately  manifested  to  the 
distresses  of  the  town  of  Boston,  reflects  equal  honor 
on  them,  as  men,  as  patriots,  and  as  Christians." 

The  Pennsylvania  Committee  wrote,  June  13 : 
"  All  America  look  up  to  Virginia  to  take  the  lead 


188  PATRICK   HENRY. 

on  the  present  occasion,"  and  requested  Virginia  to 
appoint  the  time  and  place  for  the  congress. 

The  North  Carolina  Committee  wrote,  June  21 : 

"  We  cannot  enough  applaud  the  generous  spirit 
exhibited  by  the  colony  of  Virginia  upon  this  emer 
gency,  and  wish  the  example  may  be  as  diffusive  as 
it  is  truly  laudable." 

Very  different  was  the  effect  of  Virginia's  pro 
posal  upon  the  Government,  who  saw  in  it  the 
dreaded  union  of  the  colonies.  On  July  6,  1774, 
Lord  Dartmouth  wrote  to  Lord  Dunmore : 

"  The  information  contained  in  your  letter  of  May 
last,  of  what  passed  in  Virginia  in  consequence  of 
the  measures  pursued  in  Parliament,  respecting  the 
Town  of  Boston,  has  given  me  the  greatest  con 
cern. 

"  There  was  reason  to  hope,  from  appearances  in 
the  other  colonies,  that  the  extravagant  proposition 
of  the  people  of  Boston  would  have  been  every 
where  disregarded.  But  it  may  now  be  well 
doubted,  whether  the  extraordinary  conduct  of  the 
Burgesses  of  Virginia,  both  before  and  after  their 
dissolution  as  a  House,  may  not  become  (as  it 
has  already  become  in  other  instances)  an  example 
to  the  other  colonies."  1 

And  on  August  3,  1774,  he  wrote  to  Lord  Dun- 
more  : 

"  The  proceedings  of  the  Burgesses  of  Virginia  do 
not  encourage  me  to  hope  for  a  speedy  issue  to  the 
present  discussion,  and  we  have  seen  too  much  of 
the  prevalence  of  the  example  they  have  set  the 

1  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  ix.,  719. 


UNION  OF  AMERICAN  OPPOSITION.        189 

other  colonies,  not  to  be  justly  alarmed  at  what 
may  be  the  result  of  the  unconstitutional  meeting 
they  are  endeavoring  to  promote."  1 

The  fast  proposed  was  very  generally  observed 
throughout  the  colony,  and  with  the  happiest  effect. 
Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  memoir,  says  of  it : 

"  We  returned  home,  and  in  our  several  counties 
invited  the  clergy  to  meet  assemblies  of  the  people 
on  June  1,  to  perform  the  ceremonies  of  the  day; 
and  to  address  to  them  discourses  suited  to  the  occa 
sion.  The  people  met  generally,  with  anxiety  and 
alarm  in  their  countenances,  and  the  effect  of  the 
day,  through  the  whole  colony,  was  like  a  shock  of 
electricity,  arousing  every  man  and  placing  him 
erect  and  solidly  on  his  centre." 

The  excitement  produced  by  the  Boston  Port 
bill  was  greatly  intensified  by  intelligence  of  the 
other  penal  measures  adopted  by  Parliament.  These 
were  Acts  for  regulating  the  Government  of  Massa 
chusetts  Bay,  for  administration  of  justice  in  that 
colony,  for  quartering  of  troops  in  any  of  the  colo 
nies,  and  for  regulating  the  government  of  the  Prov 
ince  of  Quebec.  By  the  first  of  these  Acts  the 
power  to  appoint  the  Council  was  taken  from  the 
Assembly ;  and  town  meetings,  except  for  the  selec 
tion  of  town  officers,  were  not  allowed  without  the 
special  permission  of  the  Governor.  Sheriffs  were 
to  be  appointed  and  removed  by  the  Governor  at 
pleasure,  and  the  juries  were  to  be  selected  by  these 
dependent  officers.  By  the  second,  magistrates, 
revenue  officers,  or  soldiers,  indicted  for  murder  or 

1  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  721. 


190  PATRICK   HENRY. 

other  capital  offences,  were  to  be  tried  in  some  other 
colony,  or  in  Great  Britain.  By  the  third,  troops, 
instead  of  being  confined  to  their  barracks  in  times 
of  peace,  might  be  quartered  anywhere  in  the  colo 
nies.  And  by  the  fourth,  the  authority  of  Canada, 
with  the  Catholic  religion,  was  extended  over  the 
vast  region  lying  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Missis 
sippi  Rivers.  This  denied  to  the  inhabitants  the 
privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  all  share 
in  the  administration  of  government. 

While  these  measures  were  passing  through  Par 
liament,  Rose  Fuller  moved  a  repeal  of  the  tax  on 
tea  as  an  act  of  conciliation.  A  long  and  animated 
debate  followed,  made  memorable  by  the  magnifi 
cent  speech  of  Burke,  but  the  motion  failed,  only 
commanding  forty-nine  votes,  the  same  number  that 
opposed  the  Stamp  Act,  while  one  hundred  and 
eighty -two  voted  against  it. 

To  enforce  these  cruel  measures  General  Thomas 
Gage  was  sent  over  with  four  regiments,  having 
been  commissioned  as  Commander  -  in  -  Chief  for 
North  America,  and  as  Governor  of  Massachusetts. 

These  acts,  intended  to  intimidate,  made  the  col 
onies  the  more  determined  on  united  resistance,  and 
the  proposal  of  Virginia  for  a  congress  was  gener 
ally  approved.  Every  county  in  Virginia  elected 
delegates  to  her  proposed  convention,  and  in  many 
counties  the  people  in  public  meetings  declared  their 
political  sentiments,  and  instructed  their  represent 
atives  in  a  manner  that  showed  their  clear  appre 
hension  of  the  political  issues  at  stake,  and  their 
firm  determination  to  maintain  their  rights  at  all 
hazards.1  As  an  example  of  these  declarations  and 

1  See  these  proceedings  in  American  Archives,  4th  series,  i. 


UNION  OF  AMERICAN  OPPOSITION.        191 

instructions,  and  as  an  indication  of  the  position  tak 
en  by  Mr.  Henry,  who  was  in  accord  with  his  con 
stituents,  the  proceedings  of  his  county  may  be 
cited.  They  were  printed  in  the  Gazette  as  fol 
lows  : 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Freeholders  of  Hanover 
County,  at  the  Court  House,  on  Wednesday,  July 
20,  1774,  the  following  address  was  agreed  to  : 

"  To  John  Syme  and  Patrick  Henry,  junior,  Es 
quires. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  You  have  our  thanks  for  your 
patriotic,  faithful  and  spirited  conduct,  in  the  part 
you  acted  in  the  late  assembly,  as  our  burgesses, 
and  as  we  are  greatly  alarmed  at  the  proceedings 
of  the  British  parliament  respecting  the  town  of 
Boston,  and  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
and  as  we  understand  a  meeting  of  delegates  from 
all  the  counties  in  this  colony  is  appointed  to  be 
in  Williamsburg  on  the  first  day  of  next  month, 
to  deliberate  on  our  public  affairs,  we  do  hereby 
appoint  you  gentlemen,  our  delegates ;  and  we  do 
request  you,  then  and  there,  to  meet,  consult,  and 
advise,  touching  such  matters  as  are  most  likely  to 
effect  our  deliverance  from  the  evils  with  which 
our  country  is  threatened. 

"  The  importance  of  those  things  which  will  offer 
themselves  for  your  deliberation  is  exceedingly 
great ;  and  when  it  is  considered  that  the  effect  of 
the  measures  you  may  adopt  will  reach  our  latest 
posterity,  you  will  excuse  us  for  giving  you  our 
sentiments,  and  pointing  out  some  particulars,  proper 
for  that  plan  of  conduct  we  wish  you  to  observe. 

"  We  are  free  men ;  we  have  a  right  to  be  so ; 
and  to  enjoy  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 


192  PATRICK  HENRY. 

our  fellow-subjects  in  England ;  and  while  we  re 
tain  a  just  sense  of  that  freedom,  and  those  rights 
and  privileges  necessary  for  its  safety  and  security, 
we  shall  never  give  up  the  right  of  taxation.  Let 
it  suffice  to  say,  once  for  all,  we  will  never  be  taxed 
but  by  our  own  representatives  ;  this  is  the  great  badge 
of  freedom,  and  British  America  hath  hitherto  been 
distinguished  by  it ;  and  when  we  see  the  British 
parliament  trampling  upon  that  right,  and  acting 
with  determined  resolution  to  destroy  it,  we  would 
wish  to  see  the  united  wisdom  and  fortitude  of 
America  collected  for  its  defence. 

"The  sphere  of  life  in  which  we  move  hath  not 
afforded  us  lights  sufficient  to  determine  with  cer 
tainty,  concerning  those  things  from  which  the 
troubles  at  Boston  originated.  Whether  the  peo 
ple  there  were  warranted  by  justice,  when  they  de 
stroyed  the  tea,  w^e  know  not ;  but  this  we  know, 
that  the  parliament  by  their  proceedings,  have  made 
us  and  all  North  America  parties  in  the  present 
dispute,  and  deeply  interested  in  the  event  of  it ; 
insomuch  that  if  our  sister  colony  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  is  enslaved,  we  cannot  long  remain  free.  Our 
minds  are  filled  with  anxiety  when  we  view  the 
friendly  regards  of  our  parent  state  turned  into 
enmity  ;  and  those  powers  of  government,  formerly 
exerted  for  our  aid  and  protection,  formed  into  dan 
gerous  efforts  for  our  destruction.  We  read  our  in 
tended  doom  in  the  Boston  port  bill,  in  that  for 
altering  the  mode  of  trial  in  criminal  cases,  and 
finally  in  the  bill  for  altering  the  form  of  govern 
ment  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  These  several 
acts  are  replete  with  injustice  and  oppression,  and 
strongly  expressive  of  the  future  policy  of  Britain 
towards  all  her  colonies  ;  if  a  full  and  uncontrolled 
operation  is  given  to  this  detestable  system  in  its 
earlier  stages,  it  will  probably  be  fixed  upon  us 
forever. 


UNION   OF   AMERICAN   OPPOSITION.        193 

"  Let  it,  therefore,  be  your  great  object  to  attain  a 
speedy  repeal  of  those  acts ;  and  for  this  purpose,  we 
recommend  the  adoption  of  such  measures  as  may 
produce  the  hearty  union  of  all  our  country-men  and 
sister  colonies,  UNITED  WE  STAND,  DIVIDED  WE  FALL. 

"  To  attain  this  wished-for  union,  we  declare  our 
readiness  to  sacrifice  any  lesser  interest  arising 
from  a  soil,  climate,  situation,  or  productions  pecul 
iar  to  us. 

"  We  judge  it  conducive  to  the  interests  of  Amer 
ica,  that  a  general  congress  of  deputies  from  all 
the  colonies  be  held,  in  order  to  form  a  plan  for 
guarding  the  claims  of  the  colonists,  and  their  con 
stitutional  rights,  from  future  encroachment,  and  for 
the  speedy  relief  of  our  suffering  brethren  at  Boston. 
For  the  present,  we  think  it  proper  to  form  a  gen 
eral  association  against  the  purchase  of  all  articles 
of  goods  imported  from  Great  Britain,  except  ne 
gro  cloths,  salt,  saltpetre,  powder,  lead,  utensils  and 
implements  for  handy  craftsmen  and  manufacturers, 
which  cannot  be  had  in  America ;  books,  paper, 
and  the  like  necessaries ;  and  not  to  purchase  any 
goods  or  merchandise  that  shall  be  imported  from 
Great  Britain,  after  a  certain  day  that  may  be 
agreed  on  for  that  purpose,  by  the  said  general 
meeting  of  deputies  at  William sburg,  except  the 
articles  aforesaid,  or  such  as  shall  be  allowed  to  be 
imported  by  the  said  meeting ;  and  that  we  will  en 
courage  the  manufactures  of  America  by  every 
means  in  our  power.  A  regard  to  justice  hinders 
us  at  this  time  from  withholding  our  exports; 
nothing  but  the  direct  necessity  shall  induce  us  to 
adopt  that  proceeding,  which  we  shall  strive  to 
avoid  as  long  as  possible. 

"  The  African  trade  for  slaves  we  consider  as  most 
dangerous  to  the  virtue  and  welfare  of  this  coun 
try  ;  we  therefore  most  earnestly  wish  to  see  it  to 
tally  discouraged. 

33       * 


194  PATRICK  HENRY. 

"  A  steady  loyalty  to  the  kings  of  England  has 
ever  distinguished  our  country ;  the  present  state 
of  things  here,  as  well  as  the  many  instances  of  it  to 
be  found  in  our  history,  leave  no  room  to  doubt  it. 
God  grant  that  we  may  never  see  the  time  when 
that  loyalty  shall  be  found  incompatible  with  the 
rights  of  freemen.  Our  most  ardent  desire  is,  that 
we  and  our  latest  posterity  may  continue  to  live  un 
der  the  genuine,  unaltered  constitution  of  England, 
and  be  subjects,  in  the  true  spirit  of  that  constitution, 
to  his  majesty  and  his  illustrious  house ;  and  may  the 
wretches  who  affirm  that  we  desire  the  contrary,  feel 
the  punishment  due  to  falsehood  and  villainy. 

"  While  prudence  and  moderation  shall  guide  your 
councils,  we  trust,  gentlemen,  that  firmness,  resolu 
tion,  and  zeal,  will  animate  you  in  the  glorious  strug 
gle.  The  arm  of  power,  which  is  now  stretched 
forth  against  us,  is  indeed  formidable,  but  we  do 
not  despair.  Our  cause  is  good  ;  and  if  it  is  served 
with  constancy  and  fidelity,  it  cannot  fail  of  success. 
We  promise  you  our  best  support,  and  we  will  heart 
ily  join  in  such  measures  as  a  majority  of  our  coun 
trymen  shall  adopt  for  securing  the  public  liberty. 

"  Resolved,  that  the  above  address  be  transmit 
ted  to  the  printers,  to  be  published  in  the  Gazettes. 
"  WILLIAM  POLLAKD,  Clerk" 

The  plan  of  forcing  a  redress  of  grievances  by 
commercial  non-intercourse  was  generally  suggested. 
The  Boston  Committee,  writing  to  the  counties  and 
towns  of  Massachusetts,  said,  "It  is  the  last  and 
only  method  of  preserving  the  land  from  slavery, 
without  drenching  it  in  blood."  They  urged  the 
citizens  to  unite  in  a  "  solemn  league  and  covenant," 
under  oath  not  to  buy  goods  from  Great  Britain, 
.and  to  break  off  all  dealings  with  those  who  did  so, 
and  to  publish  their  names  to  the  world.  General 


UNION   OF   AMERICAN  OPPOSITION.       195 

Gage,  who  had  effectually  closed  the  harbor  of  Bos 
ton,  and  was  attempting  to  enforce  the  Acts  of  Par 
liament  touching  Massachusetts,  issued  his  procla 
mation  denouncing  this  covenant  as  illegal  and 
traitorous,  and  ordering  the  arrest  of  all  who  signed 
or  circulated  it.  The  people  took  fire  at  this  high 
handed  measure,  and  not  only  continued  to  sign  the 
covenant,  but  refused  obedience  to  the  orders  issued 
to  carry  into  effect  the  changes  in  the  charter.  The 
people  of  Boston,  so  largely  dependent  on  commerce, 
soon  began  to  suffer  for  the  necessaries  of  life  upon 
the  closing  of  their  harbor.  Their  streets  were  filled 
with  soldiers  who  had  fought  on  famous  battle-fields 
in  Europe,  and  their  harbor  was  filled  with  men-of- 
war.  But  nothing  daunted  the  spirit  of  the  people. 
The  country  supplied  the  town  with  provisions,  and 
urged  it  to  stand  firm.  The  people  of  the  town 
held  public  meetings  and  denounced  the  tyranny 
under  which  they  were  suffering. 

A  sense  of  common  danger  pervaded  every  colony, 
and  Committees  of  Correspondence  were  appointed 
in  nearly  every  county  and  town,  by  which  they 
were  kept  advised  and  united  as  to  all  the  measures 
determined  on.  The  sympathy  for  the  people  of 
Boston  was  not  expended  in  resolutions,  but  provi 
sions  were  contributed  from  all  quarters  for  their 
support,  the  county  of  James  City  leading  the  way 
in  Virginia,  July  1,  1774. 

The  ministry  had  expected  to  see  Boston  de 
serted  by  America  and  humbled  before  the 
throne.  Instead,  they  saw  the  town  supported  by 
a  continent,  and  defiant  in  the  presence  of  an 
army.  The  Virginia  convention  met  August  1,  at 
Williamsburg,  and  sat  six  days.  In  defiance  of  the 


196  PATRICK   HENRY. 

proclamation  of  General  Gage,  they  unanimously 
agreed  to  a  strict  association,  and  recommended  it  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  colony ;  whereby  it  was  agreed 
to  buy  nothing,  except  medicines,  imported  from 
Great  Britain  after  November  1,  to  buy  no  slaves 
imported  from  any  place  after  that  date,  and  to  use 
no  more  tea.  It  was  further  agreed,  that  unless  Am 
erican  grievances  were  redressed  before  August  10, 
1775,  they  would  not,  after  that  date,  export  tobacco 
or  any  other  article  whatever  to  Great  Britain. 

They  appointed  as  delegates  to  the  Continental 
Congress :  Peyton  Randolph,  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
George  Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  Richard  Bland, 
Benjamin  Harrison,  and  Edmund  Pendleton. 

The  delegation  was  selected  with  the  greatest 
care,  regard  being  had  to  their  talents,  weight  of 
character,  and  diversity  of  qualifications,  and  these 
were  indicated  on  some  of  the  ballots  cast  for  them.1 
Thus  Peyton  Randolph  was  recommended  by  his 
personal  dignity  and  acquaintance  with  rules  of  or 
der  ;  George  Washington,  by  his  military  talents 
and  experience ;  Richard  Henry  Lee  by  his  persua 
sive  oratory ;  Patrick  Henry  by  his  spirit-stirring 
eloquence,  and  because,  moreover,  he  was  the  man 
of  the  people ;  Richard  Bland  was  deemed  the  best 
writer  in  the  colony,  and  the  man  best  informed  in 
its  history ;  Edmund  Pendleton  was  chosen  for  his 
consummate  prudence,  and  thorough  knowledge  of 
law ;  and  Benjamin  Harrison,  as  fairly  representing 
the  feelings  of  the  wealthy  planters.2 

An  interesting  and  original  sketch  of  the  delega 
tion  is  preserved  in  a  letter  of  Mr.  Roger  Atkinson, 

1  MS.  History  of  Virginia  by  Edmund  Randolph. 

2  Tucker's  Jefferson,  vol.  i.,  p.  63. 


UNION   OF   AMERICAN   OPPOSITION.        197 

who  lived  near  Petersburg,  addressed  to  Samuel 
Pleasants.1  Of  Mr.  Henry  he  says  :  "  He  is  a  real 
half  Quaker — your  brother's  man — moderate  and 
mild,  and  in  religious  matters  a  saint ;  but  the  very 

d 1  in  politics — a  son  of  thunder.    He  will  shake 

the  Senate.  Some  years  ago  he  had  liked  to  have 
talked  treason  in  the  House."  Of  Mr.  Eandolph  he 
says  :  "  A  venerable  man,  whom  I  well  know  and 
love ;  an  honest  man ;  has  knowledge,  temper,  ex 
perience,  judgment — above  all  integrity ;  a  true 
Roman  spirit.  He  I  find  is  chairman.  The  choice 
will  do  honor  to  the  judges,  and  the  chairman  will 
do  honor  to  the  choice."  Of  Mr.  Lee  he  says  :  u  I 
think  I  know  the  man,  and  I  like  him  ;  need  I  say 
more  ?  He  was  the  second  choice,  and  he  was  my 
second  choice."  Of  Colonel  Washington  he  says : 
"  He  is  a  soldier — a  warrior ;  he  is  a  modest  man  ; 
sensible ;  speaks  little  ;  in  action  cool,  like  a  Bishop 
at  his  prayers."  Of  Colonel  Bland  he  says  :  "A 
wary  old  experienced  veteran  at  the  bar  and  in  the 
senate ;  has  something  of  the  look  of  old  musty 
parchments,  which  he  handleth  and  studieth  much. 
He  formerly  wrote  a  treatise  against  the  Quakers 
on  water  baptism."  Of  Mr.  Harrison  he  says :  "  He 
is  your  neighbor,  and  brother-in-law  to  the  Speaker 
(Peyton  Randolph).  I  need  not  describe  him. "  Of 
Mr.  Pendleton  he  says:  "The  last  and  best,  though 
all  good.  The  last  shall  be  first  says  the  Scripture. 
He  is  an  humble  and  religious  man,  and  must  be  ex 
alted.  He  is  a  smooth-tongued  speaker,  and,  though 
not  as  old,  may  be  compared  to  old  Nestor : 

"  Experienced  Nestor,  to  persuasion  skilPd, 
Words  sweet  as  honey  from  his  lips  distill'd." 

1  Old  Churches  and  Families  of  Virginia,  by  Meade,  vol.  i.,  p.  220. 


198  PATRICK  HENRY. 

But  little  has  been  preserved  of  the  debates  in 
this  convention,  but  we  know  that  Colonel  Washing 
ton  made  a  speech  in  which  he  said,1  "  I  will  raise 
one  thousand  men,  subsist  them  at  my  own  expense, 
and  march  myself  at  their  head  for  the  relief  of 
Boston." 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  taken  sick  on  his  way  to  attend 
its  session,  and  finding  he  would  be  prevented  from 
taking  his  seat,  he  forwarded  by  express  two  copies 
of  a  draft  of  instructions  for  the  delegates  to 
Congress,  one  to  Mr.  Henry,  and  the  other  to  Peyton 
Randolph  who  was  expected  to  preside.  This  pa 
per  became  famous  afterward,  as  "  A  Summary  View 
of  the  Rights  of  British  America."  It  took  the 
bold  and  radical  ground  that  the  colonies  were  inde 
pendent  in  all  respects  of  Parliament,  and  only 
bound  to  Great  Britain,  as  Hanover  was,  by  the  tie 
of  a  common  Executive,  willingly  submitted  to,  and 
thus  their  rightful  sovereign.  Mr.  Jefferson  after 
ward  wrote  in  his  "Memoir"2  that  "Mr.  Henry 
probably  thought  it  too  bold  as  a  first  measure,  as 
the  majority  of  the  members  did.  .  .  .  Tamer 
measures  were  preferred  and  I  believe  wisely  pre 
ferred  ;  the  leap  I  proposed  being  too  long,  as  yet, 
for  the  mass  of  our  citizens." 

The  paper  which  was  thus  "  wisely  preferred  "  is 
as  follows : 

"  Instructions  for  the  Deputies  appointed  to  meet  in 
General  Congress  on  the  part  of  this  Colony. 

"  The  unhappy  disputes  between  Great  Britain 
and  her  American  Colonies,  which  began  about 
the  third  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present  Majesty, 

1  Works  of  John  Adams,  ii.,  360.  2  Note  C  to  Memoirs. 


UNION  OF  AMERICAN  OPPOSITION.       199 

and  since  continually  increasing,  have  proceeded  to 
lengths  so  dangerous  and  alarming,  as  to  excite  just 
apprehensions  in  the  rninds  of  his  Majesty's  faithful 
subjects  of  this  Colony,  that  they  are  in  danger  of 
being  deprived  of  their  natural,  ancient,  constitu 
tional,  and  chartered  rights,  have  compelled  them 
to  take  the  same  into  their  most  serious  considera 
tion  ;  and  being  deprived  of  their  usual  and  accus 
tomed  mode  of  making  known  their  grievances,  have 
appointed  us  their  Representatives,  to  consider  what 
is  proper  to  be  done  in  this  dangerous  crisis  of 
American  affairs. 

"  It  being  our  opinion  that  the  united  wisdom  of 
North  America  should  be  collected  in  a  general 
Congress  of  all  the  Colonies,  we  have  appointed  the 
Honourable  Peyton  Randolph,  Esquire,  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  George  Washington,  Patrick  Henry, 
Richard  Bland,  Benjamin  Harrison  and  ^Edmund 
Pendleton,  Esquires,  Deputies  to  represent  this  Col 
ony  in  the  said  Congress,  to  be  held  at  Philadel 
phia,  on  the  first  Monday  in  September  next.  And 
that  they  may  be  better  informed  of  our  sentiments 
touching  the  conduct  we  wish  them  to  observe  on 
this  important  occasion,  we  desire  that  they  will  ex 
press,  in  the  first  place,  our  faith  and  true  allegiance 
to  his  Majesty,  King  George  the  Third,  our  lawful 
and  rightful  Sovereign ;  and  that  we  are  determined, 
with  our  lives  and  fortunes,  to  support  him  in  the 
legal  exercise  of  all  his  just  rights  and  prerogatives  ; 
and  however  misrepresented,  we  sincerely  approve 
of  a  constitutional  connection  with  Great  Britain, 
and  wish  most  ardently  a  return  of  that  intercourse 
of  affection  and  commercial  connection  that  former 
ly  united  both  countries,  which  can  only  be  effected 
by  a  removal  of  those  causes  of  discontent  which 
have  of  late  unhappily  divided  us. 

"  It   cannot  admit  of  a  doubt,  but  that  British 
subjects  in  America  are  entitled  to  the  same  rights 


200  PATRICK  HENRY. 

and  privileges  as  their  fellow-subjects  possess  in 
Britain  ;  and  therefore  that  the  power  assumed  by 
the  British  parliament,  to  bind  America  by  their 
statutes,  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  is  unconstitutional, 
and  the  source  of  these  unhappy  differences. 

"  The  end  of  Government  would  be  defeated  by 
the  British  Parliament  exercising  a  power  over  the 
lives,  the  property  and  the  liberty  of  American  sub 
jects,  who  are  not,  and  from  their  local  circumstances 
cannot  be  there  represented.  Of  this  nature  we 
consider  the  several  Acts  of  Parliament  for  raising 
a  revenue  in  America  /  for  the  extending  the  juris 
diction  of  the  Courts  of  Admiralty ;  for  seizing 
American  subjects,  and  transporting  them  to  Brit 
ain  to  be  tried  for  crimes  committed  in  America  / 
and  the  several  late  oppressive  Acts  respecting  the 
town  of  Boston  and  province  of  Massachusetts 
Bay. 

"  The  original  Constitution  of  the  American  Col 
onies  possessing  their  Assemblies  with  the  sole  right 
of  directing  their  internal  policy,  it  is  absolutely 
destructive  of  the  end  of  their  institution  that  their 
Legislatures  should  be  suspended,  or  prevented,  by 
hasty  dissolutions,  from  exercising  their  Legislative 
powers.  Wanting  the  protection  of  Britain,  we 
have  long  acquiesced  in  their  Acts  of  Navigation 
restrictive  of  our  commerce,  which  we  consider  as 
an  ample  recompense  for  such  protection;  but  as 
those  acts  derive  their  efficacy  from  that  foundation 
alone,  we  have  reason  to  expect  they  will  be  re 
strained  so  as  to  produce  the  reasonable  purposes  of 
Britain,  and  not  be  injurious  to  us. 

"  To  obtain  redress  of  these  grievances,  without 
which  the  people  of  America  can  neither  be  safe, 
free,  nor  happy,  they  were  willing  to  undergo  the 
great  inconvenience  that  will  be  derived  to  them 
from  stopping  all  imports  whatsoever  from  Great 
Britain,  after  the  first  day  of  November  next,  and 


UNION  OF  AMERICAN   OPPOSITION.        201 

also  to  cease  exporting  any  commodity  whatsoever  to 
the  same  place,  after  the  10th  day  of  August,  1775. 
The  earnest  desire  we  have  to  make  as  quick  and  full 
payment  as  possible  of  our  debts  to  Great  Britain, 
and  to  avoid  the  heavy  injury  that  would  arise  to 
this  country  from  an  earlier  adoption  of  the  non- 
exportation  plan,  after  the  people  have  already  ap 
plied  so  much  of  their  labour  to  the  perfecting  of  the 
present  crop,  by  which  means  they  have  been  pre 
vented  from  pursuing  other  methods  of  clothing  and 
supporting  their  families,  have  rendered  it  necessary 
to  restrain  you  in  this  article  of  non-exportation  ; 
but  it  is  our  desire  that  you  cordially  co-operate 
with  our  sister  Colonies  in  general  Congress,  in 
such  other  just  and  proper  methods  as  they,  or  the 
majority,  shall  deem  necessary  for  the  accomplish 
ment  of  these  valuable  ends. 

"  The  Proclamation  issued  by  General  Gage,  in 
the  Government  of  the  Province  of  the  Massachu 
setts  Bay,  declaring  it  treason  for  the  inhabitants  of 
that  Province  to  assemble  themselves  to  consider  of 
their  grievances,  and  form  Associations  for  their 
common  conduct  on  the  occasion ;  and  requiring  the 
Civil  Magistrates  and  officers  to  apprehend  all  such 
persons,  to  be  tried  for  their  supposed  offences,  is  the 
most  alarming  process  that  ever  appeared  in  a  Brit 
ish  Government ;  that  the  said  General  Gage  hath 
thereby  assumed  and  taken  upon  himself  powers  de 
nied  by  the  Constitution  to  our  legal  Sovereign; 
that  he,  not  having  condescended  to  disclose  by 
what  authority  he  exercises  such  extensive  and  un 
heard  of  powers,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  determine 
whether  he  intends  to  justify  himself  as  the  Repre 
sentative  of  the  King,  or  as  the  Commander-in-chief 
of  his  Majesty's  forces  in  America.  If  he  considers 
himself  as  acting  in  the  character  of  his  Majesty's 
Representative,  we  would  remind  him  that  the 
statute,  twenty -fifth,  Edward  the  Third,  has  ex- 


202  PATRICK   HENRY. 

pressed  and  defined  all  treasonable  offences,  and  that 
the  Legislature  of  Great  Britain  hath  declared  that 
no  offence  shall  be  construed  to  be  treason  but  such 
as  is  pointed  out  by  that  statute,  and  that  this  was 
done  to  take  out  of  the  hands  of  tyrannical  Kings, 
and  of  weak  and  wicked  Ministers,  that  deadly 
weapon  which  constructive  treason  had  furnished 
them  with,  and  which  had  drawn  the  blood  of  the 
best  and  most  honest  men  in  the  Kingdom;  and 
that  the  King  of  Great  Britain  hath  no  right  by 
his  Proclamation,  to  subject  his  people  to  imprison 
ment,  pains,  and  penalties. 

"  That  if  the  said  General  Gage  conceives  he  is 
empowered  to  act  in  this  manner,  as  the  Cornmand- 
er-in-chief  of  his  Majesty's  forces  in  America,  this 
odious  and  illegal  Proclamation  must  be  considered 
as  a  plain  and  full  declaration,  that  this  despotick 
viceroy  will  be  bound  by  no  law,  nor  regard  the 
constitutional  rights  of  his  Majesty's  subjects,  when 
ever  they  interfere  with  the  plan  he  has  formed  for 
oppressing  the  good  people  of  Massachusetts  Bay  ; 
and,  therefore,  that  the  executing,  or  attempting  to 
execute,  such  Proclamation,  will  justify  resistance 
and  reprisal." 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

POLITICAL  FOKECAST— 1774. 

New  Assembly  Ordered. — Same  Members  Returned. — Prorogued 
till  November. — Governor  Heads  an  Expedition  against  the 
Indians  on  the  Ohio. — Battle  of  Point  Pleasant. — Treaty  with 
the  Indians. — Resolutions  of  Officers  to  Offer  Their  Swords  in 
Defence  of  American  Liberty. — Dunmore  Rebuked  by  Govern 
ment,  Which  Did  not  Wish  to  Extend  Settlements  Westward. — 
Mr.  Henry's  Forecast  of  the  Result  of  the  Struggle  Going  on 
with  England. — Sketch  of  Him  at  This  Period  by  Edmund 
Randolph. — Entertained  at  Mount  Vernon  on  His  Way  to  Phil 
adelphia. — Arrival  with  Washington  and  Pendleton. — Cordial 
Reception. — Character  of  the  Congress. — Some  of  Its  Principal 
Characters. — The  Great  Reputation  with  which  He  Took  His 
Seat. 

LORD  DUNMORE  had  ordered  writs  on  June  17,  for 
the  election  of  a  new  Assembly  to  meet  August 
11,  hoping  men  of  a  different  temper  might  be 
returned.  But,  finding  the  same  members  returned 
with  scarcely  an  exception,  he  prorogued  them  on 
July  8,  to  the  first  Thursday  in  November,  and 
on  July  10,  left  Williamsburg  for  the  northwest 
ern  part  of  the  colony  to  prosecute  the  war  with 
the  Indians.  The  Governor  had  arranged  the  con 
duct  of  the  campaign  with  General  Andrew  Lewis, 
of  Botetourt,  and  Colonel  Charles  Lewis,  of  Au 
gusta,  both  members  of  the  Assembly.  He  was  to 
command  the  troops  to  be  raised  in  Frederick,  Shen- 
andoah,  and  the  settlements  toward  Fort  Pitt,  and 
General  Lewis  to  command  those  to  be  raised  in 
Botetourt,  Augusta,  Culpeper,  and  Fincastle  Coun- 


204  PATRICK  HENRY. 

ties.  The  Governor  proceeded  to  Fort  Pitt,  which 
he  now  called  Fort  Dunmore,  and  promised  to  bring 
his  men  down  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kana- 
wha,  where  General  Lewis  was  ordered  to  meet  him. 
General  Lewis  reached  the  place  appointed,  after  a 
difficult  march,  about  October  1,  but  was  disap 
pointed  in  not  finding  the  Governor  or  any  tidings 
of  him. 

On  the  9th  an  express  arrived  directing  Gener 
al  Lewis  to  cross  the  Ohio,  and  meet  him  at  the 
Shawanee  towns,  which  were  on  the  Scioto  River. 
To  obey  the  order  General  Lewis  would  be  obliged 
to  cross  a  tractless  wilderness,  and  to  meet  first  the 
Indian  forces.  These  forces  were  nearer  than  Lewis 
supposed,  for  the  morning  following  he  was  at 
tacked  by  the  combined  army  of  the  Shawanees, 
Delawares,  Mingoes,  and  laways,  under  the  com 
mand  of  the  celebrated  chief,  Cornstalk.  After  a 
hard -fought  battle  he  repulsed  the  savages  with 
heavy  loss  on  both  sides.  This  is  known  as  the  bat 
tle  of  Point  Pleasant.  It  was  followed  by  the  most 
important  results.  The  Indians  at  once  sued  for 
peace,  and  the  white  settlements  broken  up  by  them 
were  again  extended  to  the  Ohio  River,  and  ever  af 
terward  firmly  held.  The  Virginia  troops  were  mil 
itia,  mostly  Scotch-Irish,  accustomed  to  arms  indeed, 
but  untrained  as  soldiers,  and  yet  they  displayed  the 
greatest  firmness  in  battle.  Among  their  foes  was 
the  most  warlike  of  the  Indian  tribes,  the  Shawa 
nee,  which  had  been  foremost  in  the  defeat  of  Brad- 
dock  in  1755,  and  of  Grant  in  1758,  and  was 
destined  to  gain  more  than  one  victory  over  the 
whites  in  after  years. 

This  victory  gave  the  greatest  confidence  to  the 


POLITICAL  FORECAST.  205 

troops.  The  officers,  flushed  with  victory,  held  a 
meeting  at  Fort  Gower  on  November  5,  and  de 
clared  themselves  ready,  at  the  call  of  their  country, 
to  draw  the  sword  in  defence  of  American  liberty.1 
Among  these  officers  was  Colonel  William  Christian, 
the  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Henry,  and  a  number  of 
others  who  afterward  distinguished  themselves  in 
the  Revolution. 

Lord  Dunmore  returned  to  Williamsburg  Decem 
ber  4,  and  received  the  thanks  of  the  colony  for 
his  conduct  of  the  war,  but  it  afterward  became  a 
matter  of  grave  doubt  whether  he  had  not  designed 
to  sacrifice  the  gallant  men  under  Lewis.  While  at 
Pittsburg  he  renewed  his  irritating  measures  toward 
Pennsylvania,  and  caused  that  colony  to  raise  and 
keep  up  a  regular  force  to  counteract  his  designs. 

His  Excellency  found  on  his  return  a  letter  from 
Lord  Dartmouth,  dated  September  8,  highly  dis 
approving  of  his  conduct  in  granting  lands  to  set 
tlers  beyond  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  distinct 
ly  stating  the  restrictive  policy  of  the  Government. 
He  wrote  :  "  The  King,  by  the  royal  proclamation 
of  1763,  forbad  settlements  beyond  the  heads  of  the 
rivers  that  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean ;  and  al 
though  his  Majesty  was  graciously  pleased  to  accept 
from  the  Six  Nations  a  surrender  of  the  Ohio,  as  low 
down  as  its  confluence  with  the  Cherokee  River,  yet 
such  acceptance  was  accompanied  with  an  order  to 
Sir  William  Johnson,  to  assure  these  nations  of  his 
Majesty's  firm  resolution  not  to  suffer  any  settle 
ment  to  be  made  below  the  Kanawa  River."  In  ref 
erence  to  the  treaty  with  the  Cherokees,  fixing  u 

1  American  Archives,  4th  series,  i. ,  902.     Fort  Gower  was  at  the  junc 
tion  of  the  Ohio  and  Hockhocking  Rivers. 


206  PATRICK  HENRY. 

boundary  to  the  settlements,  he  wrote :  "  By  that 
treaty,  which  was  concluded  at  Lockhaber  on  18th  of 
October,  1770,  it  was  expressly  stipulated,  that  the 
settlement  of  the  King's  subjects  under  the  Govern 
ment  of  Virginia,  should  be  bounded  by  a  line  drawn 
in  a  certain  direction  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kan- 
awa  River  to  the  boundary  line  of  North  Carolina. 
.  .  .  It  is  the  King's  pleasure  that  you  .  .  . 
exert  every  power  and  authority  which  the  consti 
tution  has  vested  in  you  ...  to  prevent  any 
settlement  whatever  being  made  upon  any  pretence 
beyond  the  line  settled  at  the  Congress  at  Lock 
haber,  in  October,  1770."1 

This  letter  was,  unconsciously  to  the  writer,  a  re 
buke  to  the  motive  which  prompted  the  expedition 
just  ended.  Mr.  Henry,  while  it  was  in  progress, 
stated  to  Thomas  Wharton,  of  Philadelphia,  who  was 
interested  in  western  land  purchases,  that  he  "  was 
at  William sburg  with  Lord  Dunmore  when  Dr.  Con 
nolly  first  came  there,  that  Connolly  is  a  chatty, 
sensible  man,  and  informed  Lord  Dunmore  of  the  ex 
treme  richness  of  the  land  which  lay  on  both  sides 
of  the  Ohio ;  that  the  prohibiting  orders  which  had 
been  sent  him  relative  to  the  land  on  the  hither  side, 
had  caused  him  to  turn  his  thoughts  to  the  opposite 
shore,  and  that  as  his  Lordship  was  determined  to 
settle  his  family  in  America,  he  was  really  pursuing 
this  war  in  order  to  obtain  by  purchase  or  treaty 
from  the  nations  a  tract  of  territory  on  that  side." 2 

By  the  treaty  his  Lordship  made  the  Indians 
agreed  to  give  up  the  lands  east  of  the  Ohio.3 

1  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  x. ,  724. 

2  Thomas  Wharton  to  Thomas  Walpole,  September  23,  1774.     Letter 
book  of  Thomas  and  I.  Wharton,  Merchants  of  Philadelphia. 

3  Burke's  History  of  Virginia,  iii.,  396. 


POLITICAL  FORECAST.  207 

The  serious  consequences  which  now  seemed  to 
threaten  the  colonies,  because  of  their  determination 
not  to  submit  to  the  Acts  of  Parliament,  did  not 
alarm  Mr.  Henry.  With  that  wonderful  power  of 
forecasting  the  future,  which  his  knowledge  of  men 
gave  him,  he  had  anticipated  that  the  stubbornness 
of  the  King  and  the  subservience  of  Parliament  to 
his  will,  met  by  the  firm  purpose  of  the  colonies 
never  to  submit  to  their  claims,  would  end  in  war. 
But  he  was  convinced  that  in  that  war  America 
would  not  be  called  upon  to  cope  single-handed  with 
Great  Britain,  and  he  was  assured  of  the  result.  A 
correspondent  of  Mr.  Wirt  gave  him  an  incident 
which  fully  attests  this  prescience.1  These  are  his 
words  : 

"I  am  informed  by  Colonel  John  Overton,  that 
before  one  drop  of  blood  was  shed  in  our  contest 
with  Great  Britain,  he  was  at  Colonel  Samuel  Over- 
ton's  in  company  with  Mr.  Henry,  Colonel  Morris, 
John  Hawkins,  and  Colonel  Samuel  Overton,  when 
the  last  mentioned  gentleman  asked  Mr.  Henry 
4  whether  he  supposed  Great  Britain  would  drive 
her  colonies  to  extremities  ?  And  if  she  should, 
what  he  thought  would  be  the  issue  of  the  war  ? ' 
When  Mr.  Henry,  after  looking  around  to  see  who 
was  present,  expressed  himself  confidentially  to  the 
company  in  the  following  manner :  '  She  will  drive 
us  to  extremities  —  no  accommodation  will  take 
place — hostilities  will  soon  commence — and  a  des 
perate  and  bloody  touch  it  will  be.'  '  But '  said 
Colonel  Samuel  Overton,  'do  you  think  Mr.  Henry, 
that  an  infant  nation  as  we  are,  without  discipline, 
arms,  ammunition,  ships  of  war  or  money  to  procure 
them — do  you  think  it  possible,  thus  circumstanced, 

1  Wirt's  Henry  (ed.  1818),  p.  93. 


208  PATRICK   HENRY. 

to  oppose  successfully  the  fleets  and  armies  of  Great 
Britain  ? '  'I  will  be  candid  with  you,'  replied  Mr. 
Henry.  '  I  doubt  whether  we  shall  be  able,  alone, 
to  cope  with  so  powerful  a  nation.  But,'  continued 
he,  (rising  from  his  chair  with  great  animation,) 
4  where  is  France  ?  where  is  Spain  ?  Where  is  Hol 
land  ?  the  natural  enemies  of  Great  Britain — where 
will  they  be  all  this  while  ?  Do  you  suppose  they 
will  stand  by,  idle  and  indifferent  spectators  to  the 
contest  ?  Will  Louis  the  XVI.  be  asleep  all  this 
time  ?  Believe  me,  no !  When  Louis  the  XVI.  shall 
be  satisfied  by  our  serious  opposition,  and  our  Dec 
laration  of  Independence,  that  all  prospect  of  recon 
ciliation  is  gone,  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  he  fur 
nish  us  with  arms,  ammunition  and  clothing ;  and 
not  with  these  only,  but  he  will  send  his  fleet  and 
armies  to  fight  our  battles  for  us  ;  he  will  form  with 
us  a  treaty  offensive  and  defensive,  against  our  un 
natural  mother.  Spain  and  Holland  will  join  the 
confederation !  Our  independence  will  be  estab 
lished,  and  we  shall  take  our  stand  among  the  na 
tions  of  the  earth  ! '  Here  he  ceased  ;  and  Colonel 
John  Overton  says  at  the  word  independence,  the 
company  appeared  to  be  startled ;  for  they  had 
never  heard  before  anything  of  the  kind  even  sug 
gested." 

When  this  interview  occurred  is  not  definitely 
stated,  but  it  is  certain  that  Mr.  Henry  had  been 
convinced  before  the  meeting  of  Congress  that  no 
reconciliation  would,  take  place,  and  he  did  not  hesi 
tate  to  declare  this  conviction  in  debate. 

As  he  was  now  about  to  enter  upon  a  wider  field, 
in  which  he  was  to  be  brought  into  direct  contact 
with  the  wisdom  and  genius  of  the  continent,  it  may 
be  well  to  present  him  to  the  reader  as  he  appeared 
to  an  able  cotemporary,  Edmund  Randolph.  This 


POLITICAL  FORECAST.  209 

writer,1  after  describing  the  aristocracy,  which  had 
controlled  the  colony,  and  lifted  men  into  position, 
but  which  now  gave  way  in  the  hour  of  peril  to  the 
true  tests  of  leadership,  "  virtue,  talents,  and  pa 
triotism,"  gives  most  interesting  sketches  of  the 
leaders  in  Virginia  as  they  appeared  in  the  begin 
ning  of  1774.  To  Mr.  Henry  he  assigns  the  highest 
honor.  He  says : 

"  To  Patrick  Henry  the  first  place  is  due,  as  being 
the  first  who  broke  the  influence  of  that  aristocracy. 
Little  and  feeble  as  it  was,  and  incapable  of  daring 
to  assert  any  privilege  clashing  with  the  right  of 
the  people  at  large,  it  was  no  small  exertion  in  him 
to  surprize  them  with  the  fact,  that  a  new  path  was 
opened  to  the  temple  of  honor,  besides  that  which 
led  through  the  favor  of  the  King.  He  was  respect 
able  in  his  parentage;  but  the  patrimony  of  his 
ancestors  and  of  himself  was  too  scanty  to  feed  os 
tentation  or  luxury.  From  education  he  derived 
those  manners  which  belongs  to  the  real  Virginian 
planter,  and  which  were  his  ornament,  in  no  less  dis 
daining  an  abridgment  of  personal  independence, 
than  in  observing  every  decorum,  interwoven  with 
the  comfort  of  society.  With  his  years  the  un- 
bought  means  of  popularity  increased.  Identified 
with  the  people,  they  clothed  him  with  the  confi 
dence  of  a  favorite  son.  Until  his  resolutions  on 
the  stamp  act,  he  had  been  unknown,  except  to 
those  with  whom  he  had  associated  in  the  hardy 
sports  of  the  field,  and  the  avowed  neglect  of  lit 
erature.  Still  he  did  not  escape  notice,  as  occasion 
ally  retiring  within  himself  in  silent  reflection,  and 
sometimes  descanting  with  peculiar  emphasis  on  the 
martyrs  in  the  cause  of  liberty.  This  enthusiasm  was 
nourished  by  his  partiality  for  the  dissenters  from 

1  In  his  MS.  History  of  Virginia  in  possession  of  the  Virginia  Historical 
Society. 

14 


210  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  established  church.  He  often  listened  to  them, 
while  they  were  waging  their  steady  and  finally  ef 
fectual  war  against  the  burthens  of  that  church,  and 
from  a  repetition  of  his  sympathy  with  the  history 
of  their  sufferings,  he  unlocked  the  human  heart,  and 
transferred  into  civil  discussions  many  of  the  bold 
licenses  which  prevailed  in  the  religious.  If  he 
was  not  a  constant  hearer  and  admirer  of  that  stu 
pendous  master  of  the  human  passions,  George 
Whitfield,  he  was  a  follower,  a  devotee  of  some  of 
his  most  powerful  disciples  at  least.  All  these  ad 
vantages  he  employed  by  a  demeanor  inoffensive, 
conciliating,  and  abounding  in  good  humour.  For 
a  short  time  he  practiced  the  law  in  an  humble 
sphere,  too  humble  for  the  real  height  of  his  pow 
ers.  He  then  took  a  seat  at  the  bar  of  the  general 
court,  the  supreme  tribunal  of  Virginia,  among  a 
constellation  of  eminent  lawyers  and  scholars,  and 
was  in  great  request  even  on  questions  for  which 
he  had  not  been  prepared  by  much  previous  eru 
dition.  Upon  the  theatre  of  legislation,  he  entered 
regardless  of  that  criticism,  which  was  profuse 
ly  bestowed  on  his  language,  pronunciation  and 
gesture.  Nor  was  he  absolutely*  exempt  from  an 
irregularity  in  his  language,  a  certain  homespun 
pronunciation,  and  a  degree  of  awkwardness  in  the 
cold  commencement  of  his  gesture.  But  the  corre 
sponding  looks  and  emotions  of  those  whom  he  ad 
dressed,  speedily  announced,  that  language  may  be 
sometimes  peculiar  and  even  quaint,  while  it  is  at 
the  same  time  expressive  and  appropriate;  that  a 
pronunciation  which  might  disgust  in  a  drawing 
room,  may  yet  find  access  to  the  heart  of  a  popular 
Assembly  :  and  that  a  gesture  at  first  too  much  the 
effect  of  indolence,  may  expand  itself  in  the  prog 
ress  of  delivery  into  forms,  which  would  be  above 
rule  and  compass,  but  strictly  within  the  prompting 
of  nature.  Compared  with  any  of  his  more  refined 


POLITICAL  FORECAST.  211 

contemporaries,  and  rivals,  he  by  his  imagination, 
which  painted  to  the  soul,  eclipsed  the  sparklings 
of  art ;  and  knowing  what  chord  of  the  heart  would 
sound  in  unison  with  his  immediate  purpose,  and 
with  what  strength  or  peculiarity  it  ought  to  be 
touched,  he  had  scarcely  ever  languished  in  a  minor 
ity  at  the  time  up  to  which  his  character  is  now 
brought.  Contrasted  with  the  most  renowned  of 
British  orators,  the  elder  William  Pitt,  he  was  not 
inferior  to  him  in  the  intrepidity  of  metaphor.  Like 
him  he  possessed  a  vein  of  sportive  ridicule,  but 
without  arrogance  or  dictatorial  malignity.  In 
Henry's  exordium  there  was  a  simplicity  and  even 
carelessness,  which  to  a  stranger,  who  had  never 
before  heard  him,  promised  little.  A  formal  di 
vision  of  his  intended  discourse  he  never  made 
but  even  the  first  distance,  which  he  took  from  his 
main  ground,  was  not  so  remote  as  to  obscure  it,  or 
to  require  any  distortion  of  his  course  to  reach  it. 
With  an  eye  which  possessed  neither  positive  beau 
ty,  nor  acuteness,  and  which  he  fixed  upon  the  mod 
erator  of  the  assembly  addressed,  without  straying 
in  quest  of  applause,  he  contrived  to  be  the  focus, 
to  which  every  person  present  was  directed,  even  at 
the  moment  of  the  apparent  languor  of  his  opening. 
He  transfused  into  the  breast  of  others  the  earnest 
ness  depicted  in  his  own  features,  which  ever  for 
bade  a  doubt  of  sincerity.  In  others  rhetorical  ar 
tifice,  and  unmeaning  expletives  have  been  often 
employed  as  scouts  to  seize  the  wandering  atten 
tions  of  the  audience :  in  him  the  absence  of  trick 
constituted  the  triumph  of  nature.  His  was  the  only 
monotony  which  I  ever  heard  reconcilable  with  true 
eloquence ;  its  chief  note  was  melodious,  but  the 
sameness  was  diversified  by  a  mixture  of  sensations, 
which  a  dramatic  versatility  of  action  and  counte 
nance  produced.  His  pauses,  which  for  their  length 
might  sometimes  be  feared  to  dispel  the  attention, 


212  PATRICK  HENRY. 

rivetted  it  the  more,  by  raising  the  expectation  of 
renewed  brilliancy.  In  pure  reasoning  he  encoun 
tered  many  successful  competitors ;  in  the  wisdom 
of  books  many  superiors :  but  although  he  might  be 
inconclusive,  he  was  never  frivolous ;  and  argu 
ments  which  at  first  seemed  strange,  were  after 
wards  discovered  to  be  select  in  their  kind,  because 
adapted  to  some  peculiarity  in  his  audience.  His 
style  of  oratory  was  vehement,  without  transporting 
him  beyond  the  power  of  self-command,  or  wound 
ing  his  opponents  by  deliberate  offense ;  after  a  de 
bate  had  ceased,  he  was  surrounded  by  them  on  the 
first  occasion  with  pleasantry  on  some  of  its  inci 
dents.  His  figures  of  speech  when  borrowed,  were 
often  borrowed  from  the  scriptures.  The  proto 
types  of  others  were  the  sublime  scenes  and  objects 
of  nature ;  and  an  occurrence  at  the  instant  he  never 
failed  to  employ  with  all  the  energy  of  which  it  was 
capable.  His  lightning  consisted  in  quick  succes 
sive  flashes,  which  rested  only  to  alarm  the  more. 
His  ability  as  a  writer  cannot  be  insisted  on :  nor 
was  he  fond  of  a  length  of  details ;  but  for  grand 
impressions  in  the  defence  of  liberty,  the  western 
world  has  not  yet  been  able  to  exhibit  a  rival.  His 
nature  had  probably  denied  to  him,  under  any  cir 
cumstances,  the  capacity  of  becoming  Pitt,  while 
Pitt  himself  would  have  been  but  a  defective  in 
strument  in  a  revolution  the  essence  of  which  was 
deep  and  pervading  popular  sentiment. 

"  In  this  embryo  state  of  the  revolution,  deep  re 
search  into  the  ancient  treasures  of  political  learn 
ing  might  well  be  dispensed  with.  It  was  enough 
to  feel,  to  remember  some  general  maxims  coeval 
with  the  colony,  and  inculcated  frequently  after 
ward.  With  principles  like  these,  Mr.  Henry  need 
not  dread  to  encounter  the  usurpation  threatened  by 
parliament;  for  although  even  his  powerful  elo 
quence  could  not  create  public  sentiment,  he  could 


POLITICAL  FORECAST.  213 

apply  the  torch  of  opposition  so  as  fortunately  to 
perceive,  that  in  every  vicissitude  of  event  he 
concurred  with  his  country." 

At  the  invitation  of  Washington,  Mr.  Henry  and 
Mr.  Pendleton  visited  him  at  Mount  Vernon  on  their 
way  to  the  congress.  They  spent  a  day  and  night 
with  him,  and  were  entertained  most  hospitably  by 
Mrs.  Washington,  who  fully  sympathized  with  her 
husband's  political  views.  Pendleton  afterward 
wrote  to  a  friend:  "Mrs.  Washington  talked  like 
a  Spartan  to  her  son  on  his  going  to  battle.  'I 
hope  you  will  all  stand  firm,'  she  said.  '  I  know 
George  will.' '  The  three  set  ofE  on  horseback  Au 
gust  31,  and  reached  Philadelphia  September  4,1 
where  they  found  the  members  nearly  all  arrived, 
and  were  heartily  welcomed  by  them.  John  Adams, 
on  meeting  with  some  of  the  Virginia  delegation, 
noted  in  his  diary  :  "  These  gentlemen  from  Vir 
ginia  appear  to  be  the  most  spirited  and  consistent 
of  any."2 

All  eyes  were  turned  now  to  the  congress,  the 
patriots  trusting  to  their  wisdom  and  firmness  for  a 
deliverance  from  the  thickening  dangers  which  sur 
rounded  them,  the  British  Government  looking 
with  alarm  at  the  continent  in  counsel.  General 
Adam  Stephen  expressed  the  feeling  in  America 
when  he  wrote,  August  27,  to  R.  H.  Lee,  and  after 
stating  that  he  had  been  ordered  by  Lord  Dunmore 
to  the  Ohio,  added :  "  This  prevents  my  attending 
the  General  Congress,  where  I  would  expect  to  see 
the  spirit  of  the  Amphyctions  shine  as  that  illus- 

1  Extract  from  diary.     Writings  of  Washington,  ii. ,  503. 

2  Lift?  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  ii.,  362. 


214  PATRICK  HENRY. 

trious  council  did  in  their  purest  times,  before 
debauched  with  the  Persian  gold.  The  fate  of 
America  depends  on  your  meeting,  and  the  eyes  of 
the  European  world  hang  upon  you,  waiting  the 
event."  *  Lord  Dartmouth  expressed  the  fears  of  the 
Ministry  in  his  letter  of  September  7,  to  Governor 
Penn,2  in  which  he  stated  the  great  concern  of  the 
King  at  the  meeting,  gave  the  assurance  that  the 
complaints  of  the  colonies  coming  from  them  sep 
arately  would  have  greater  weight,  and  added,  l<  I 
can  only  express  my  wishes  that  the  result  of  their 
proceedings  may  be  such  as  not  to  cut  off  all  hope 
of  that  union  with  the  mother  country  which  is  so 
essential  to  the  happiness  of  both." 

In  truth,  never  were  more  important  interests 
committed  to  representatives,  and  never  did  rep 
resentatives  prove  themselves  more  worthy  of  the 
trust  committed  to  them  by  their  constituents.  The 
verdict  of  their  cotemporaries,  as  of  succeeding  ages, 
has  pronounced  the  body  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
of  which  history  has  made  record. 

The  members  were  leaders  in  their  several  colo 
nies,  men  toward  whom  the  people  instinctively 
turned  in  their  hour  of  peril,  and  in  whom,  in  near 
ly  every  instance,  they  continued  to  repose  con 
fidence  during  the  eventful  years  which  followed. 
Of  those  who  had  already  won  enviable  reputation, 
and  were  destined  to  greater  distinction  still,  some 
were  found  on  each  delegation.  Samuel  and  John 
Adams  came  from  Massachusetts.  The  first,  a  truly 
great  man,  both  in  the  grasp  of  his  mind  and  in  the 
firmness  of  his  purpose.  He  was  aptly  designated 

1  American  Archives,  4th  series,  i.  740.     The  writer  urges  preparations 
for  war  however.  2  Idem,  774. 


POLITICAL  FORECAST.  215 

the  u  Palinurus  of  the  Revolution."  His  ambition 
was  satisfied,  when  his  long  service  as  a  legislator 
was  crowned  by  his  selection  as  Governor  of  his 
State,  a  free  and  independent  commonwealth.  The 
second  was  a  man  of  large  capacity,  brilliant,  and  of 
fervid  eloquence,  who  filled  a  long  list  of  honorable 
offices.  He  had  the  high  distinctions  of  being  one 
of  the  negotiators  of  the  treaty  with  England  which 
acknowledged  American  independence,  the  first 
American  minister  to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  the 
first  Vice-president,  and  the  second  President  of  the 
United  States.  Roger  Sherman  and  Silas  Deane 
were  among  the  delegation  from  Connecticut ;  the 
first  noted  for  his  intellect  and  integrity,  and  des 
tined  to  serve  his  State  with  distinction  in  the 
United  States  Senate;  the  second  a  man  of  such 
talents  and  accomplishments  as  to  be  sent  by  the 
Congress  to  Europe  as  a  negotiator  of  treaties, 
where  he  secured  the  important  services  of  Lafay 
ette  and  De  Kalb.  John  Sullivan  sat  in  the  delega 
tion  from  New  Hampshire,  one  of  the  youngest  men 
in  the  body,  but  one  of  the  ablest  and  bravest.  He 
left  the  hall  of  congress  the  next  year  for  the  camp, 
where  he  served  his  country  as  a  general  officer  with 
great  distinction,  and  after  its  independence  was 
won,  he  again  served  it  faithfully  as  a  legislator, 
and  ended  his  days  as  an  honored  judge  of  the 
United  States.  Rhode  Island  sent  but  two  del 
egates,  both  men  of  deserved  distinction,  the  ven 
erable  Stephen  Hopkins  and  the  gallant  Samuel 
Ward,  ex-Governors  of  the  colony.  With  the  New 
York  delegation  were  found  Philip  Livingston,  the 
merchant  prince,  and  John  Jay,  whose  talents  for  ne 
gotiation  were  to  be  brought  into  service  not  only  in 


216  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  treaty  for  independence,  but  in  the  later  commer 
cial  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  and  who  was  to  be  the 
first  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States.  New  Jer 
sey  presented  as  her  leading  man  the  accomplished 
William  Livingston,  who  was  to  be  her  first  Repub 
lican  Governor,  and  to  serve  her  in  many  offices  with 
distinction.  Pennsylvania  had  at  the  head  of  her 
delegation  John  Galloway,  the  clever  Speaker  of 
her  Legislature,  who  proved  to  be  a  Tory  in  dis 
guise.  She  afterward  added  to  it  his  rival,  John 
Dickinson,  the  learned  author  of  the  "  Farmer's 
Letters,"  who  was  afterward  to  be  successively 
the  Republican  Governor  of  Delaware  and  Penn 
sylvania.  Delaware  headed  her  delegation  with 
Caesar  Rodney,  who  served  her  with  great  distinc 
tion  in  the  field,  in  the  Legislature,  and  in  the 
Executive  chair.  Maryland  was  well  represented 
by  that  staunch  patriot,  Thomas  Johnson,  who  was 
ever  as  ready  to  fight  as  to  vote,  who  became  the 
first  Governor  of  his  State,  and  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  With 
him  was  the  singularly  gifted,  but  erratic  Samuel 
Chase,  who  also  served  on  that  high  court,  and  be 
came  the  subject  of  a  celebrated  impeachment  case, 
conducted  by  that  eccentric  genius,  John  Randolph, 
of  Roanoke.  Virginia  shone  resplendent  in  the  con 
stellation  which  composed  her  delegation.  Upon 
one  of  her  members,  then  only  known  as  a  gallant 
but  modest  soldier,  bearing  the  rank  of  Colonel,  man 
kind  have  delighted  to  heap  their  praises,  not  only 
styling  him  Pater  Patrice,  but  declaring  him  to  be 
the  greatest  of  good  men,  and  the  best  of  great 
men.  North  Carolina's  most  prominent  delegate  was 
her  adopted  son,  William  Hooper,  whose  eloquence 


POLITICAL  FORECAST.  217 

caused  John  Adams  to  class  him  with  Henry  and 
Lee  as  the  orators  of  the  body.  South  Carolina 
also  furnished  an  orator  of  great  power  in  John 
Rutledge,  her  future  war  Governor,  and  the  third 
Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States ;  but  no  colony 
sent  a  nobler  man,  or  firmer  patriot,  than  her  Chris 
topher  Gadsden,  afterward  a  distinguished  General 
in  the  Revolution. 

Nor  does  this  list  exhaust  the  roll  of  great  men  who 
composed  the  congress ;  it  only  gives  the  names  of 
some  of  the  most  prominent,  who  were  primi  inter 
pares. 

In  such  a  body  of  great  characters  Mr.  Henry  was 
now  to  appear,  and  to  sustain  his  reputation,  al 
ready  earned  in  Virginia,  as  the  "  Demosthenes  of 
the  Age."  l 

1  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  ii. ,  357. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS— 1774. 

Meeting  of  Congress. — Mr.  Henry  Opens  its  Discussions. — Question 
of  Eepresentation. — Work  of  the  Congress. — Proposal  of  Joseph 
Galloway  Opposed  by  Mr.  Henry,  who  Declares  He  Expects 
Their  Measures  to  Lead  to  War. — Virginia  Leads  the  Congress. 
— Mr.  Henry  and  B.  H.  Lee  on  Nearly  All  the  Committees.— 
The  Addresses  Put  Forth  by  the  Body.— Mr.  Henry's  Want  of 
Confidence  in  Their  Effect. — Their  Impression  in  America  and 
England. — Their  Authorship. — Impressions  Made  by  Mr.  Henry 
on  the  Body. — His  Estimate  of  John  Butledge  and  George 
Washington. 

ON  Monday,  September  5,  1774,  the  delegates  as 
sembled  at  the  City  Tavern,  and  walked  to  Carpen 
ters'  Hall,  which  had  been  offered  them  as  a  place 
of  meeting.  On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Lynch,  of  South 
Carolina,  Peyton  Randolph  was  unanimously  chosen 
president,  and  Charles  Thomson,  of  Philadelphia, 
secretary.  The  commissions  of  the  members  were 
then  read,  and  thereupon  Mr.  Duane,  of  New  York, 
moved  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  prepare 
regulations  for  the  Congress.  Several  members  ob 
jected.  John  Adams  asked  what  particular  regula 
tions  were  intended,  and  Mr.  Duane  mentioned  par 
ticularly  the  method  of  voting,  whether  it  should  be 
by  colonies,  or  by  poll,  or  by  interests.  Thus  at  the 
outset  arose  a  question  of  the  greatest  importance, 
one  which  continually  threatened  disunion  after 
ward,  and  was  only  finally  adjusted  in  the  compro 
mise  effected  in  the  composition  of  the  Senate  and 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS.  219 

House  of  Representatives  under  the  United  States 
Constitution.  If  the  vote  should  be  by  colonies,  the 
small  would  weigh  equally  with  the  large,  and  great 
injustice  would  be  done ;  if  by  poll,  the  unequal 
delegations  would  also  work  injustice ;  if  by  inter 
ests,  the  body  had  not  data  with  which  to  estimate 
the  weight  of  each  colony.  The  difficulty  of  the 
question  impressed  the  body,  and  a  deep  silence  en 
sued.  Charles  Thomson  is  said  to  have  described 
the  scene  afterward  as  follows : 1  "  None  seemed 
willing  to  break  the  eventful  silence,  until  a  grave 
looking  member,  in  a  plain  dark  suit  of  minister's 
gray,  and  unpowdered  wig,  arose.  All  became  fixed 
in  attention  on  him. 

Conticuere  omnes,  intenti  que  ora  tenebant. 

Then,  Mr.  Thomson  said,  he  felt  a  sense  of  regret 
that  the  seeming  country  parson  should  so  far 
have  mistaken  his  talents,  and  the  theatre  for  their 
display.  But  as  he  proceeded,  he  evinced  such  un 
usual  force  of  argument,  and  such  novel  and  impas 
sioned  eloquence,  as  soon  electrified  the  house. 
Then  the  excited  inquiry  passed  from  man  to  man, 
Who  is  it?  Who  is  it?  The  answer  from  the  few 
who  knew  him  was,  It  is  PATRICK  HENRY  ! 

Hie  regit  dictis  animos  et  pectora  mulcet." 

We  have  also  another  sketch  of  the  scene  in  the 
following  account  given  by  Mr.  Thomson  of  the 
circumstances  under  which  he  assumed  the  duties  of 
his  office. 

"  I  was  married  to  my  second  wife  on  a  Thurs 
day  ;  on  the  next  Monday,  I  came  to  town  to  pay 

'Watson's  Annals,  i.,  421. 


220  PATRICK  HENRY. 


my  respects  to  my  wife's  aunt  and  the  family.  Just 
as  I  alighted  in  Chestnut  Street,  the  door-keeper  of 
Congress  (then  first  met)  accosted  me  with  a  mes 
sage  from  them,  requesting  my  presence.  Surprised 
at  this,  and  not  able  to  divine  why  I  was  wanted,  I 
however  bade  my  servant  put  up  the  horses,  and 
followed  the  messenger  myself  to  the  Carpenters' 
Hall,  and  entered  Congress.  Here  was  indeed  an 
august  assembly,  and  deep  thought  and  solemn  anx 
iety  were  observable  on  their  countenances.  I 
walked  up  the  aisle  and  standing  opposite  to  the 
President  I  bowed,  and  told  him  I  awaited  his  pleas 
ure.  He  replied, '  Congress  desire  the  favor  of  you, 
sir,  to  take  their  minutes.'  I  bowed  in  acquiescence, 
and  took  my  seat  at  the  desk.  After  a  short  silence, 
Patrick  Henry  arose  to  speak.  I  did  not  then  know 
him ;  he  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  parson's  gray,  and 
from  his  appearance,  I  took  him  for  a  Presbyterian 
clergyman,  used  to  haranguing  the  people.  He  ob 
served  that  we  were  here  met  in  a  time  and  on  an  oc 
casion  of  great  difficulty  and  distress ;  that  our  public 
circumstances  were  like  those  of  a  man  in  deep  em 
barrassment  and  trouble,  who  had  called  his  friends 
together  to  devise  what  was  best  to  be  done  for  his 
relief ; — one  would  propose  one  thing,  and  another 
a  different  one,  whilst  perhaps  a  third  would  think 
of  something  better  suited  to  his  unhappy  circum 
stances,  which  he  would  embrace,  and  think  no  more 
of  the  rejected  schemes  with  which  he  would  have 
nothing  to  do.  I  thought  that  this  was  very  good 
instruction  to  me,  with  respect  to  the  taking  the  min 
utes.  What  Congress  adopted,  I  committed  to  writ 
ing;  with  what  they  rejected  I  had  nothing  farther 
to  do ;  and  even  this  method  led  to  some  squabbles 
with  the  members  who  were  desirous  of  having  their 
speeches  and  resolutions,  however  put  to  rest  by  the 
majority,  still  preserved  upon  the  minutes." 1 

1  American  Quarterly  Review,  i.,  30. 


CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS.  221 

Besides  these  recollections  of  Mr.  Thomson,  noth 
ing  authentic  remains  of  this  speech,  except  the  fol 
lowing  condensed  abstract  in  the  diary  of  John 
Adams.1 

"Mr.  Henry  then  arose,  and  said  this  was  the 
first  General  Congress  which  had  ever  happened ; 
that  no  former  congress  could  be  a  precedent ;  that 
we  should  have  occasion  for  more  general  congres 
ses,  and  therefore  that  a  precedent  ought  to  be  es 
tablished  now ;  that  it  would  be  great  injustice  if  a 
little  colony  should  have  the  same  weight  in  the 
councils  of  America  as  a  great  one,  and  therefore 
he  was  for  a  committee." 

On  the  next  day  the  discussion  was  continued, 
and  Mr.  Adams  made  the  following  brief  of  Mr. 
Henry's  speech : 2 

"  Mr.  Henry.  Government  is  dissolved.  Fleets 
and  armies  and  the  present  state  of  things  show 
that  government  is  dissolved.  Where  are  your 
landmarks,  your  boundaries  of  colonies  ?  We  are 
in  a  state  of  nature,  sir  I  did  propose  that  a  scale 
should  be  laid  down ;  that  part  of  North  America 
which  was  once  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  that  part 
which  was  once  Virginia,  ought  to  be  considered  as 
having  a  weight.  Will  not  people  complain  ?  Ten 
thousand  Virginians  have  not  outweighed  one  thou 
sand  others. 

^  I  will  submit,  however ;  I  am  determined  to  sub 
mit,  if  I  am  overruled. 

"  A  worthy  gentleman  (ego)  near  me  seemed  to 

1  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  ii.,  365. 

2  The  editor  of  Mr.  Adams's  works  puts  this  as  part  of  the  first  day's  dis 
cussion,  but  it  is  evident  that  he  is  mistaken,  as  the  diary  shows  that 
Richard  Henry  Lee  took  part  in  it,  and  the  Journal  shows  that  he  did  not 
take  his  seat  till  the  second  day. 


222  PATRICK  HENRY. 

admit  the  necessity  of  obtaining  a  more  adequate 
representation. 

"  I  hope  future  ages  will  quote  our  proceedings 
with  applause.  It  is  one  of  the  great  duties  of  the 
democratical  part  of  the  constitution  to  keep  itself 
pure.  It  is  known  in  my  Province  that  some  other 
Colonies  are  not  so  numerous  or  rich  as  they  are. 
I  am  for  giving  all  the  satisfaction  in  my  power. 

"  The  distinctions  between  Virginians,  Pennsyl- 
vanians,  New  Yorkers,  and  New  Englanders,  are  no 
more.  I  am  not  a  Virginian,  but  an  American. 

"  Slaves  are  to  be  thrown  out  of  the  question,  and 
if  the  freemen  can  be  represented  according  to  their 
numbers,  I  am  satisfied." 

Mr.  Lee,  who  had  taken  his  seat  that  morning, 
and  others,  objected  that  they  had  not  the  material 
to  estimate  the  weight  of  the  colonies.  And  Mr. 
Henry  added  : 

"  I  agree  that  authentic  accounts  cannot  be  had, 
if  by  authenticity  is  meant  attestations  of  officers 
of  the  Crown.  I  go  upon  the  supposition  that  gov 
ernment  is  at  an  end.  All  distinctions  are  thrown 
down.  All  America  is  thrown  into  one  mass.  We 
must  aim  at  the  minutiae  of  rectitude." 

This  meagre  account  of  speeches,  which  according 
to  tradition  were  of  great  power,  is  very  valuable  in 
showing  Mr.  Henry's  view  of  the  effect  of  the  meas 
ures  of  Great  Britain  upon  America.  He  held  that 
these  acts,  so  subversive  of  the  charter  rights  of  Amer 
ica,  had  virtually  destroyed  constitutional  govern 
ment  in  the  colonies,  and  America  must  now  provide 
for  her  own  proper  government.  His  declaration  that 
the  colonies  were  no  longer  to  be  regarded  as  dis- 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS.  223 

connected,  but  as  forming  a  united  people,  summed 
up  in  the  sentence,  "  I  am  not  a  Virginian,  but  an 
American,"  shows  how  clearly  he  had  read  the 
meaning  of  passing  events,  and  saw  their  inevitable 
results.  That  patriotic  utterance  was  in  truth  a 
prophecy  of  the  future  United  States  of  America. 

In  opposing  Mr.  Henry's  views  Mr.  Jay  paid  a 
handsome  tribute  to  Virginia,  saying,  "To  the  vir 
tue,  spirit,  and  abilities  of  Virginia  we  owe  much. 
I  should  always,  therefore,  from  inclination  as  well 
as  justice,  be  for  giving  Virginia  its  full  weight." 

The  difficulty  of  ascertaining  the  relative  popula 
tion  or  wealth  of  the  colonies,  determined  the  body 
to  vote  by  colonies  as  units,  but  in  order  to  prevent 
this  from  being  drawn  into  a  precedent,  the  resolu 
tion  was  adopted  in  the  following  form. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  determining  questions  in  this 
congress,  each  colony  or  province  shall  have  one 
vote.  The  congress  not  being  possessed  of,  or  at 
present  able  to  procure  proper  materials  for  ascer 
taining  the  importance  of  each  colony." 

After  determining  to  sit  with  closed  doors,  the 
proceedings  only  to  be  divulged  when  ordered  by  a 
majority,  they  resolved,  first,  "  That  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  state  the  rights  of  the  colonies  in  gen 
eral,  the  several  instances  in  which  these  rights  are 
violated  or  infringed,  and  the  means  most  proper  to 
be  pursued  for  obtaining  a  restoration  of  them ; " 
and  second,  "That  a  committee  be  appointed  to 
examine  and  report  the  several  statutes  which  affect 
the  trade  and  manufactures  of  the  colonies." 

During  the  evening  an  express  arrived  bringing 
an  exciting  rumor  of  the  bombardment  of  Boston  by 


224  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  British  ships,  and  the  rising  in  arms  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut.  The  next 
morning  the  tolling  of  muffled  bells  called  the  peo 
ple  together  to  hear  the  terrible  news,  and  "  War ! 
War  !  War !  "  was  the  cry  which  filled  the  city. 
In  the  midst  of  this  intense  excitement  Congress  met, 
and  their  session  was  opened  with  religious  services 
by  Mr.  Duche,  an  Episcopal  minister,  who  read  as 
the  lesson  of  the  day  the  thirty-fifth  psalm,  and  fol 
lowed  it  with  an  extempore  prayer  of  great  elo 
quence  and  fervor.  With  hearts  staid  on  God,  and 
without  trepidation,  the  members  entered  on  their 
duties  ;  two  members  from  each  colony  were  chosen 
for  the  first  committee,  and  one  from  each  colony  for 
the  second.  Mr.  Lee  and  Mr.  Pendleton  were  put 
on  the  first  and  Mr.  Henry  on  the  second.  The 
body  then  entered  the  orders  necessary  to  complete 
their  organization,  and  adjourned,  subject  to  the 
call  of  the  president,  to  enable  the  committees  to 
prepare  their  work.  On  the  next  day  an  express 
from  Boston  brought  the  happy  news  that  no  blood 
had  been  shed.  The  alarm  had  been  caused  by  Gen 
eral  Gage  sending  a  military  force  on  September  1, 
to  take  away  the  provincial  powder  from  Cambridge. 
The  alarm  had  caused  a  number  of  men  to  arm 
themselves,  and  start  for  Boston,  but  on  learning  the 
truth  they  had  returned  to  their  homes. 

The  temper  of  the  people,  so  unmistakably  shown, 
alarmed  General  Gage.  He  took  steps  to  concen 
trate  all  the  British  soldiers  in  America,  ten  regi 
ments,  at  Boston,  and  wrote  to  England  for  rein 
forcements.  He  proposed  also  to  raise  a  body  of 
Indian  forces,  hoping  to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts 
of  the  patriots.  On  September  5,  the  day  the 


CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS.  225 

Congress  met,  General  Gage  commenced  to  erect  for 
tifications  on  the  neck  which  formed  the  only  en 
trance  by  land  into  Boston.  On  the  next  day  dele 
gates  from  every  town  and  district  of  the  county  of 
Suffolk  met  in  convention  to  consider  the  situation. 
At  an  adjourned  meeting  on  the  9th  resolutions  pre 
pared  by  the  celebrated  Dr.  Joseph  Warren  were 
adopted,  and  ordered  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Con 
gress.  These  were  more  advanced  than  any  public 
action  yet  taken.  They  declared  among  other  things 
that  the  King  rules  by  compact  with  the  people, 
whose  allegiance  depends  on  his  keeping  his  cove 
nant  ;  that  the  act  for  altering  their  charter  was  un 
constitutional  and  void,  and  the  officers  appointed 
under  it  should  resign ;  that  no  taxes  should  be  paid 
to  the  treasurer  recognized  by  General  Gage ;  and 
that  a  provincial  Congress  should  be  held  to  con 
sult  as  to  the  measures  to  be  adopted  in  the  present 
emergency.  They  expressed  a  determination  to  act 
on  the  defensive,  so  long  as  it  was  reasonable  and 
requisite  for  self-preservation,  and  no  longer  ;  and  in 
case  General  Gage  should  make  any  political  arrests, 
to  seize  the  crown  officers  as  hostages ;  and  they  ar 
ranged  a  system  of  couriers  for  the  corresponding 
committees  of  the  colony. 

These  bold  resolves  were  laid  before  Congress  the 
17th  and  excited  the  liveliest  interest.  On  the  mo 
tion  of  Mr.  Lee  resolutions  were  adopted  approving 
of  the  conduct  of  Massachusetts  in  resisting  the  late 
Acts  of  Parliament,  encouraging  a  continuance  in 
the  same  firm  and  temperate  conduct,  and  advising 
a  continuance  of  the  contributions  from  the  several 
colonies  for  the  relief  of  the  people  of  Boston.  These 
resolutions,  and  those  of  the  county  of  Suffolk  were 

15 


226  PATRICK   HENRY. 

ordered  to  be  published.  Mr.  Adams  wrote  in  his 
diary  :  "  This  was  one  of  the  happiest  days  of  my 
life.  In  Congress  we  had  generous,  noble  senti 
ments,  and  manly  eloquence.  This  day  convinced 
me  that  America  will  support  the  Massachusetts  or 
perish  with  her." 

It  cannot  be  believed  that  Mr.  Henry  did  not 
take  a  prominent  part  in  the  proceedings,  and  con 
tribute  his  share  of  the  "  manly  eloquence,"  though 
we  have  no  record  of  the  speakers.  The  Suffolk 
resolves  very  certainly  excited  his  sympathy,  as 
they  contained  the  sentiments  he  had  invariably  ex 
pressed.  On  the  same  day  the  report  of  the  Com 
mittee  on  Statutes  affecting  trade  was  brought  in. 
This  report  was  referred  on  the  19th  to  the  Commit 
tee  on  Rights,  etc.,  and  Mr.  Gushing,  Mr.  Henry,  and 
Mr.  Mifflin  were  added  to  that  committee. 

In  that  committee  most  interesting  and  able  de 
bates  had  arisen  on  two  questions  of  great  impor 
tance  and  delicacy.  First,  on  what  grounds  to  base 
colonial  rights ;  whether  on  the  British  Constitution 
and  colonial  charters  solely,  or  on  the  law  of  Na 
ture  as  well.  Second,  what  authority  should  be 
conceded  to  Parliament.  Upon  these  questions  the 
members  divided.  Those  who  were  for  making 
everything  bend  to  the  preservation  of  American 
liberty,  were  for  recurring  to  the  law  of  Nature, 
and  for  conceding  the  least  authority  to  Parlia 
ment  ;  while  those  who  were  for  making  everything 
bend  to  the  preservation  of  the  connection  with 
Great  Britain,  were  for  relying  on  the  Constitution, 
charters,  and  grants,  and  for  allowing  all  power  to 
Parliament  except  that  of  taxation.  Of  the  first, 
in  the  original  committee,  Lee  and  John  Adams 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS.  227 

seemed  to  have  been  the  leaders;  of  the  second, 
Galloway  and  Duane.  The  matter  was  referred  to 
a  sub-committee,  and  after  considerable  discussion 
in  that,  it  was  determined  to  base  their  rights  on 
"  the  immutable  laws  of  Nature,  the  principles  of 
the  English  Constitution,  and  the  several  charters 
or  compacts/'  But  the  authority  of  Parliament, 
which  was  the  essence  of  the  controversy,  was  much 
more  difficult  of  adjustment.  Finally,  at  the  in 
stance  of  John  Rutledge,  John  Adams  drew  an 
article  which  claimed  for  the  colonial  legisla 
tures  "exclusive  power  of  legislation,  in  all  cases 
of  taxation  and  internal  polity.  But  from  the  ne 
cessity  of  the  case,  and  a  regard  to  the  mutual 
interests  of  both  countries,  cheerfully  consenting 
to  the  operation  of  such  acts  of  the  British  Parlia 
ment  as  are  bonafide  restrained  to  the  regulation  of 
our  external  commerce  .  .  .  excluding  every 
idea  of  taxation,  internal  or  external,  for  raising  a 
revenue  on  the  subjects  in  America  without  their 
consent."  Although  no  one  seemed  to  be  fully  sat 
isfied  with  this,  nothing  could  be  suggested  which 
was  more  satisfactory,1  and  it  was  finally  adopted. 
This  concession  of  parliamentary  power  over  com 
merce  shows  that  their  aim  was  not  independence. 

Another  matter  of  difficulty  now  presented  itself. 
How  far  back  should  they  seek  for  infringements 
of  rights.  This  was  finally  determined  by  fixing 
on  the  year  1763,  the  end  of  the  French  War.  This 
date  was  fixed  by  the  Virginians  wisely  uniting  with 
the  less  resolute  members,  who  were  desirous  of 
avoiding  merely  abstract  principles  which  might 
stanxl  in  the  way  of  reconciliation.2 

1  Adams's  Autobiography,  Life  and  Works  of  J.  Adams,  ii.  374.     "Id.  376. 


228  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Upon  the  report  of  this  committee  Congress  de 
termined,  before  acting  on  it,  to  "  deliberate  on  the 
means  most  proper  to  be  pursued  for  a  restoration 
of  our  rights.''  This  was  the  great  object  for 
which  the  Congress  had  assembled,  and  both  the 
object,  and  the  manner  of  accomplishing  it,  had  been 
distinctly  set  forth  in  the  resolutions  of  the  Virginia 
convention  appointing  delegates.  These  were  said 
to  be,  "  to  consider  of  the  most  proper  and  effectual 
manner  of  so  operating  on  the  commercial  connec 
tions  of  the  colonies  with  the  mother  country,  as  to 
procure  redress  for  the  much  injured  Province  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  ;  to  secure  British  America  from 
the  ravage  and  ruin  of  arbitrary  taxes,  and  as  speed 
ily  as  possible  to  procure  the  return  of  that  harmony 
and  union  so  beneficial  to  the  whole  Empire,  and 
so  ardently  desired  by  all  British  America."  And 
in  their  instructions  to  the  delegates  the  convention 
had  expressed  their  willingness  to  fix  November  1, 
1774,  as  a  day  for  stopping  all  imports,  and  August 
10,  1775,  for  stopping  all  exports.  This  was  con 
sidered  as  a  refusal  on  the  part  of  Virginia  to  con 
sent  to  earlier  dates,  while  it  was  believed  by  many 
that  to  give  efficient  relief  to  Boston  and  Massachu 
setts  these  measures  ought  to  take  effect  at  once. 
Mr.  Henry  did  not  believe  that  these  measures 
would  cause  the  desired  change  in  the  British  pol 
icy.  Yet,  for  the  sake  of  unanimity,  he  was  will 
ing  that  they  should  be  tried.  He  was  not  willing, 
however,  that  either  of  the  measures  should  be  en 
forced  without  fair  warning  to  the  American  mer 
chants,  who  would  otherwise  be  ruined.  This  is  in 
dicated  by  the  note  made  by  John  Adams  of  the 
debate  on  fixing  the  date  for  non-importation,  in 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS.  229 

which  he  represents  Mr.  Henry  as  saying :  "  We 
don't  mean  to  hurt  even  our  rascals,  if  we  have  any. 
I  move  that  December  may  be  inserted  instead  of 
November." 

This  motion  prevailed,  and  it  was  determined  to 
fix  December  1,  1774,  for  non-importation,  and  Sep 
tember  10,  1775,  for  non-exportation,  in  case  the 
obnoxious  Acts  were  not  then  repealed. 

In  order  to  give  efficiency  to  these  measures,  it 
was  necessary  that  they  should  be  universally  ob 
served,  and  to  effect  this  the  Congress  recommended 
that  a  committee  be  chosen  in  every  county,  city, 
and  town  in  America,  charged  with  the  duty  of  en 
forcing  their  observance.  This  recommendation  re 
sulted  in  an  organization  of  great  power  and  useful 
ness,  and  of  vital  importance  in  the  struggle  which 
followed. 

These  measures  were  at  first  framed  so  as  to  em 
brace  all  articles  of  trade  with  England,  but  so  de 
pendent  was  South  Carolina  upon  the  sale  of  her 
rice,  that  her  delegates  insisted  on  excepting  it,  and 
being  refused,  they  all,  except  Gadsden,1  withdrew 
from  the  Congress  for  several  days.  For  the  sake  of 
harmony  rice  was  finally  excepted,  and  the  Articles 
of  Association,  as  the  resolutions  were  called,  were 
signed  by  the  members  October  20. 

While  Congress  was  in  the  midst  of  this  impor 
tant  and  delicate  subject,  and  greatly  perplexed,  a 
proposal  was  sprung  upon  the  body  by  Joseph  Gal- 

1  This  unselfish  man  was  one  of  the  most  determined  and  unflinching 
of  the  patriots.  In  one  of  the  debates  of  the  body  he  is  represented  by 
Elliott  in  his  New  England  History,  as  saying :  ' «  Our  seaport  towns  are 
composed  of  brick  and  wood.  If  they  are  destroyed  we  have  clay  and 
lumber  enough  to  rebuild  them.  But  if  the  liberties  of  our  country  are 
destroyed  where  shall  we  find  the  materials  to  replace  them  ? '' 


230  PATRICK  HENRY. 

loway,  which  came  near  changing  the  future  destiny 
of  America.  Galloway  was  a  Tory  at  heart,  as  was 
manifested  afterward  when  he  openly  espoused  the 
cause  of  Great  Britain.  He  claimed  in  the  Congress 
to  be  true  to  the  cause  of  America,  while  he  was 
acting  the  spy  and  reporting  to  Governor  Franklin.1 
Before  he  took  his  seat  he  had  drawn  up  a  plan  of 
union  between  the  colonies  and  Great  Britain,  which 
he  submitted  to  two  royal  Governors,  Franklin  of 
New  Jersey,  and  Golden  of  New  York ;  and  with 
their  sanction,  and  possibly  that  of  the  Ministry,  on 
September  28,  he  introduced  the  following  insidious 
paper,  based  on  the  proposal  of  Benjamin  Frank 
lin  to  the  convention  at  Albany  in  1754,  and  by  that 
body  approved. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Congress  will  apply  to  his 
Majesty  for  a  redress  of  grievances,  under  which 
his  faithful  subjects  in  America  labour,  and  assure 
him  that  the  Colonies  hold  in  abhorrence  the  idea 
of  being  considered  independent  communities  on 
the  British  Government,  and  most  ardently  desire 
the  establishment  of  a  political  union,  not  only 
among  themselves,  but  with  the  mother  state,  upon 
those  principles  of  safety  and  freedom  which  are  es 
sential  in  the  constitution  of  all  free  governments, 
and  particularly  that  of  the  British  Legislature. 
And  as  the  Colonies  from  their  local  circumstances 
cannot  be  represented  in  the  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  they  will  humbly  propose  to  his  Majesty, 
and  his  two  Houses  of  Parliament,  the  following 
Plan,  under  which  the  strength  of  the  whole  Em 
pire  may  be  drawn  together  on  any  emergency ;  the 

1  See  Galloway's  letters  to  Governor  Franklin  and  letter  of  Franklin 
to  Dartmouth,  in  Aspinwall  Papers,  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections, 
x  ,  700-710. 


CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS.  231 

interests  of  both  countries  advanced;  and  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  America  secured  : 

"A  Plan  for  a  proposed  Union  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  Colonies  of  Ne^v- Hampshire,  the 
Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut, 
New-  York,  New-Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland, 
the  three  lower  Counties  on  the  Delaware,  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia. 

"  That  there  be  a  British  and  American  Legis 
lature,  for  regulating  the  administration  of  the 
general  affairs  of  America,  including  all  the  said 
Colonies ;  within,  and  under  which  Government, 
each  Colony  shall  retain  its  present  Constitution 
and  powers  of  regulating  and  governing  its  own  in 
ternal  police  in  all  cases  whatever. 

"That  the  said  Government  be  administered  by 
a  President  General  to  be  appointed  by  the  King, 
and  a  Grand  Council  to  be  chosen  by  the  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  people  of  the  several  Colonies  in 
their  respective  Assemblies,  once  in  every  three 
years. 

"That  the  several  Assemblies  shall  choose  Mem 
bers  for  the  Grand  Council  in  the  following  propor 
tions,  viz. : 

New-Hampshire,  Delaware  Counties,          

Massachusetts  Bay,  Maryland, 

Rhode-Island,  Virginia,  

Connecticut,  North  Carolina  

New- York,  South  Carolina 

New-Jersey,  Georgia,  

Pennsylvania,  


Who  shall  meet  at  the  city  of for 

the  first  time,  being  called  by  the  President  General 
as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be  after  his  appoint 
ment.  That  there  shall  be  a  new  election  of  Mem 
bers  for  the  Grand  Council  every  three  years;  and 
on  the  death,  removal,  or  resignation  of  any  Mem 
ber,  his  place  shall  be  supplied  by  a  new  choice  at 


232  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  next  sitting  of  Assembly  of  the  Colony  he  rep 
resented. 

"  That  the  Grand  Council  shall  meet  once  in  every 
year  if  they  shall  think  it  necessary,  and  oftener,  if 
occasions  shall  require,  at  such  time  and  place  as 
they  shall  adjourn  to  at  the  last  preceding  meeting, 
or  as  they  shall  be  called  to  meet  at,  by  the  Presi 
dent  General  on  any  emergency.  That  the  Grand 
Council  shall  have  power  to  choose  their  Speaker, 
and  shall  hold  and  exercise  all  the  like  rights,  lib 
erties,  and  privileges  as  are  held  and  exercised  by 
and  in  the  House  of  Commons  of  Great  Britain. 

"  That  the  President  General  shall  hold  his  office 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  King,  and  his  assent  shall 
be  requisite  to  all  Acts  of  the  Grand  Council,  and 
it  shall  be  his  office  and  duty  to  cause  them  to  be 
carried  into  execution. 

uThat  the  President  General,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Grand  Council,  hold 
and  exercise  all  the  Legislative  rights,  powers,  and 
authorities,  necessary  for  regulating  and  adminis 
tering  all  the  general  police  and  affairs  of  the  Colo 
nies,  in  which  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies,  or 
any  of  them,  the  Colonies  in  general,  or  more  than 
one  Colony,  are  in  any  manner  concerned,  as  well 
civil  and  criminal  as  commercial. 

"  That  the  said  President  General  and  Grand 
Council  be  an  inferiour  and  distinct  branch  of  the 
British  Legislature,  united  and  incorporated  with 
it  for  the  aforesaid  general  purposes ;  and  that  any 
of  the  said  general  regulations  may  originate,  and 
be  formed  and  digested,  either  in  the  Parliament 
of  Great  Britain  or  in  the  said  Grand  Council ;  and 
being  prepared,  transmitted  to  the  other  for  their 
approbation  or  dissent ;  and  that  the  assent  of  both 
shall  be  requisite  to  the  validity  of  all  such  general 
Acts  and  Statutes. 

"  That  in  time  of  war,  all  Bills  for  granting  aids 


CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS.  233 

to  the  Crown,  prepared  by  the  Grand  Council,  and 
approved  by  the  President  General,  shall  be  valid 
and  passed  into  a  law  without  the  assent  of  the 
.British  Parliament."1 

Mr.  Adams  in  his  diary  noted  the  debate  on  this 
proposal.  Galloway's  speech  displayed  considera 
ble  ability,  and  great  subtlety.  He  pointed  out  the 
inefficiency  of  non-importation  as  a  measure  of  re 
lief  for  Boston,  which  would  be  obliged  to  succumb 
before  the  people  of  England  would  be  seriously 
affected.  Non-exportation  he  declared,  if  enforced, 
would  destroy  America,  or  so  weaken  her  as  to 
make  her  unfit  for  the  war  which  might  follow. 
He  gave  a  history  of  the  origin  of  the  colonial  trou 
bles,  so  coloring  it  as  to  throw  much  of  the  blame 
on  America.  Claiming  to  be  "  as  much  a  friend  of 
liberty  as  exists,"  he  argued  that  it  was  necessary 
for  America  to  continue  the  union  with  England, 
enjoy  her  protection,  and  repay  her  by  allegiance. 
He  urged  that  from  the  necessity  of  things  the 
power  to  regulate  trade  must  be  somewhere,  and  that 
the  empire  could  not  exist,  if  this  power  be  divided 
among  its  parts,  and  not  exercised  by  the  whole  as 
a  unit. 

Duane  seconded  the  proposal,  and  it  was  advo 
cated  by  Jay  and  Edward  Rutledge.  Lee  seemed 
to  be  in  doubt.  After  praising  the  colonial  govern 
ment  before  1763  he  added:  "This  plan  would 
make  such  changes  in  the  legislature  of  the  colonies, 
that  I  could  not  agree  to  it  without  consulting  my 
constituents."  Mr.  Henry  alone  is  represented  as 
opposing  it  in  the  debate.  The  note  made  by  Mr. 

1  American  Archives,  4th  series,  i.,  905. 


234  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Adams  of  his  speech  is  very  meagre,  yet  enough  is 
preserved  to  indicate  the  firmness  of  his  purpose, 
the  clearness  of  his  political  vision,  and  the  fearless 
ness  of  his  utterances.  He  is  represented  as  say 
ing: 

"  The  original  constitution  of  the  colonies  was 
founded  on  the  broadest  and  most  generous  base. 
The  regulation  of  our  trade  was  compensation 
enough  for  all  the  protection  we  ever  experienced 
from  her  [England].  We  shall  liberate  our  constit 
uents  from  a  corrupt  House  of  Commons,  but  throw 
them  into  the  arms  of  an  American  legislature,  that 
may  be  bribed  by  that  nation  which  avows,  in  the 
face  of  the  world,  that  bribery  is  a  part  of  her  sys 
tem  of  government. 

"  Before  we  are  obliged  to  pay  taxes  as  they  do, 
let  us  be  as  free  as  they ;  let  us  have  our  trade  with 
all  the  world.  We  are  not  to  consent  by  the  repre 
sentatives  of  representatives.  I  am  inclined  to  think 
the  present  measures  lead  to  war." 

This  proposal  is  said  to  have  been  defeated  by 
only  one  vote.1  Mr.  Galloway  in  after  years  claimed 
that  it  came  very  near  being  carried.  After  its  de 
feat  it  was  deemed  best  by  the  body  to  strike  out 
of  the  record  all  mention  of  it,  and  so  its  history 
cannot  be  traced  on  the  printed  Journal.  The  ac 
tion  of  Congress  on  it  constitutes  a  crisis  in  the  his 
tory  of  America.  Had  it  been  adopted  by  that 
body  it  would  in  all  probability  have  been  agreed 
to  by  Parliament,  and  the  independence  of  the  col 
onies  would  have  been  indefinitely  postponed,  with 
the  wondrous  results  which  have  followed  in  its 
train.  We  learn  from  Mr.  Galloway  that  Mr.  Sam- 

1  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  ii.,  377  and  387. 


CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS.  235 

uel  Adams  was  active  in  defeating  his  scheme/  and 
to  Mr.  Henry  and  Mr.  Samuel  Adams  doubtless  the 
honor  belongs,  of  saving  America  from  a  continued 
colonial  dependence  on  England. 

Having  determined  on  non-importation,  non-con 
sumption,  and  non-exportation,  as  measures  which 
would  force  Great  Britain  to  respect  American 
rights,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  draw  up  a 
plan  for  carrying  them  into  effect,  the  Congress  on 
October  1,  determined  to  address  the  King  upon 
the  subject  of  their  grievances,  entreating  him  to 
interpose  for  their  relief ;  and  appointed  Mr.  Lee,  J. 
Adams,  Mr.  Johnson,  Mr.  Henry,  and  Mr.  J.  Rut- 
ledge,  a  committee  to  prepare  the  address.  So  im 
portant  was  this  paper  considered,  that  the  Con 
gress  spent  three  days  in  debating  what  it  should 
contain,  and  in  giving  instructions  to  the  com 
mittee. 

On  the  6th  an  express  from  Boston  brought  a 
letter  from  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  stat 
ing  that  General  Gage  was  continuing  the  erection 
of  fortifications,  and  there  was  reason  to  believe 
that  when  the  town  was  enclosed,  the  inhabitants 
would  be  held  as  hostages  for  the  submission  of  the 
country ;  they  therefore  desired  the  advice  of  Con 
gress.  If  it  was  deemed  best  that  the  inhabitants 
should  quit  the  town,  they  were  ready  to  obey; 
if  it  was  deemed  best  for  the  common  cause 
that  they  maintain  their  ground,  they  were 
ready  to  suffer  any  hardship  and  danger;  and 
finally,  that  as  the  late  Acts  of  Parliament  had 
prevented  the  due  administration  of  justice  in  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  the  Governor  had  prevented  the 

1  Note  to  examination  of  Joseph  Galloway  before  Parliament,  in  1779. 


236  PATRICK   HENRY. 

meeting  of  the  General  Court,  they  desired  the  ad 
vice  of  Congress  as  to  how  to  act  during  this  sus 
pension  of  laws.  The  Congress  thereupon  sent  a 
letter  to  General  Gage,  representing  themselves  as 
guardians  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  colonies, 
and  expressing,  "the  deepest  concern,  that  while 
they  were  pursuing  every  dutiful  and  peaceable 
measure  to  procure  a  cordial  and  effectual  reconcil 
iation  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies,  his 
Excellency  should  proceed  in  a  manner  that  bears 
so  hostile  an  appearance." 

Having  determined  on  this  letter,  it  was  resolved, 
"  that  this  Congress  approve  the  opposition  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  to  the  execu 
tion  of  the  late  Acts  of  Parliament ;  and  if  the  same 
shall  be  attempted  to  be  carried  into  execution  by 
force,  in  such  case  all  America  ought  to  support 
them  in  their  opposition." 

This  resolution  was  stoutly  opposed  by  Galloway 
and  Duane,  who  when  outvoted  asked  leave  to  enter 
a  protest  on  the  Journal.  This  was  refused  them, 
and  they  exchanged  memoranda  with  each  other,  to 
preserve  the  evidence  that  they  had  opposed  it  as 
treasonable.1 

Congress  further  resolved,  that  the  question  of  a 
removal  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  from  the  town 
should  be  left  to  the  Colonial  Assembly,  and  in  case 
that  body  ordered  the  removal,  all  America  ought 
to  recompense  the  inhabitants  for  their  losses.  It 
was  also  recommended  to  the  people  of  Massachu 
setts,  to  submit  for  the  present  to  a  suspension  of 
the  administration  of  justice,  and  to  avoid,  as  far  as 
it  was  possible  to  do  so,  any  conflict  with  the  Brit- 

1  Rise  of  the  Republic,  369. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS.  237 

ish  troops,  taking  care  to  act  firmly  on  the  defen 
sive. 

On  October  11,  Mr.  Lee,  Mr.  Livingston,  and 
Mr.  Jay,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a 
memorial  to  the  people  of  British  America,  and  an 
address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain. 

On  this  day  Mr.  Adams  made  the  following  in 
teresting  entry  in  his  diary.  "Spent  the  evening 
with  Mr.  Henry  at  his  lodgings,  consulting  about  a 
petition  to  the  King.  Henry  said  he  had  no  public 
education ;  at  fifteen  he  read  Virgil  and  Livy,  and 
has  not  looked  into  a  Latin  book  since.  His  father 
left  him  at  that  age  *  and  he  has  been  struggling 
through  life  ever  since.  He  has  high  notions, 
talks  of  exalted  minds,  etc.  He  has  a  horrid  opin 
ion  of  Galloway,  Jay  and  the  Eutledges.  Their 
system,  he  says,  would  ruin  the  cause  of  Amer 
ica.  He  is  very  impatient  to  see  such  fellows, 
and  not  be  at  liberty  to  describe  them  in  their  true 
colors." 

This  estimate  of  Galloway,  Jay,  and  the  Rut- 
ledges,  was  sufficiently  justified  by  the  course  pur 
sued  by  them  severally  touching  the  Galloway  plan 
of  settlement,  the  non-exportation  resolution,  and 
the  determination  to  support  the  people  of  Massa 
chusetts  in  their  opposition  to  their  new  charter  at 
all  hazards ;  in  some  of  which  measures,  and  proba 
bly  in  all,  they  directly  antagonized  the  views  of 
Mr.  Henry  and  the  majority  of  Congress. 

Fully  aware  as  Mr.  Henry  was  of  the  perilous 
position  of  the  colonies,  and  the  necessity  of  ener- 

1  This  was  a  misapprehension  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Adams.  Mr.  Henry's 
father  put  him  to  business  at  fifteen,  and  this  was  what  Mr.  Henry  al 
luded  to. 


238  PATRICK  HENRY. 

getic  counsels,  yet  he  saw  the  greater  necessity  of  a 
united  people,  and  he  forbore  to  drive  off  men  of 
influence  by  attacking  with  his  powers  of  invective 
their  half-hearted  measures.  The  wisdom  of  this 
course  was  fully  demonstrated,  by  the  final  align 
ment  of  the  true  but  halting  "Whigs  with  the  front 
rank  of  the  patriots. 

On  October  21,  in  order  to  meet  the  threats  of 
arrest  of  some  of  the  members,  which  had  been 
freely  made,  Congress  determined  that  the  arrest  of 
any  one  to  be  transported  beyond  the  seas  for  trial, 
should  be  met  with  resistance  and  reprisal. 

John  Dickinson,  who  had  been  added  to  the  Penn 
sylvania  delegation  on  the  13th,  took  his  seat  on  the 
17th,  and  on  the  21st  was  put  on  a  committee  with 
Mr.  Gushing  and  Mr.  Lee  to  prepare  an  address  to 
the  people  of  Quebec,  and  letters  to  the  colonies  of 
St.  John,  Nova  Scotia,  Georgia,  and  East  and  West 
Florida,  which  had  no  delegates  in  the  Congress. 

After  the  adoption  of  the  several  papers  ordered 
the  Congress  adjourned  on  October  26,  with  a  rec 
ommendation  that  another  be  held  on  May  10,  fol 
lowing,  unless  a  redress  of  grievances  should  be 
granted  by  Great  Britain  before  that  date. 

That  the  action  of  the  Congress  would  result  in 
a  redress  of  grievances  was  the  confident  belief  of 
nearly  all  of  the  members,  and  of  the  people  gen 
erally.  This  is  abundantly  shown  by  cotempora- 
neous  testimony.  But  Mr.  Henry  was  of  a  differ 
ent  opinion,  and  while  willing  to  try  the  proposed 
measures  he  was  for  preparing  for  the  worst.  Not 
only  does  his  speech  on  Galloway's  plan  show  this, 
as  reported  by  John  Adams,  but  Mr.  Adams  after 
ward  bore  explicit  testimony  to  the  fact.  In  a 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS.  239 

letter 1  to  "William  Wirt,  dated  January  23, 1818,  he 
said : 

"  When  Congress  had  finished  their  business,  as 
they  thought,  in  the  autumn  of  1774,  I  had  with  Mr. 
Henry,  before  we  took  leave  of  each  other,  some 
familiar  conversation,  in  which  I  expressed  a  full 
conviction  that  our  resolves,  declarations  of  rights, 
enumeration  of  wrongs,  petitions,  remonstrances,  and 
addresses,  associations,  and  non-importation  agree 
ments,  however  they  might  be  expected  by  the  peo 
ple  in  America,  and  however  necessary  to  cement 
the  union  of  the  colonies,  would  be  but  waste  pa 
per  in  England.  Mr.  Henry  said  they  might  make 
some  impression  among  the  people  of  England,  but 
agreed  with  me  that  they  would  be  totally  lost 
upon  the  government.  I  had  but  just  received  a 
short  and  hasty  letter,  written  to  me  by  Major  Jo 
seph  Hawley,  of  Northampton,  containing  4a  few 
broken  hints  '  as  he  called  them,  of  what  he  thought 
was  proper  to  be  done,  and  concluding  with  these 
words :  '  After  all  we  must  fight?  This  letter  I 
read  to  Mr.  Henry,  who  listened  with  great  atten 
tion  ;  and  as  soon  as  I  had  pronounced  the  words, 
i  After  all  we  must  fight,'  he  raised  his  head,  and 
with  an  energy  and  vehemence,  that  I  can  never  for 
get,  broke  out  with,  i  BY  G—  — D,  I  AM  OF  THAT 
MAN'S  MIND.'  I  put  the  letter  into  his  hand,  and 
when  he  had  read  it,  he  returned  it  to  me  with  an 
equally  solemn  asseveration,  that  he  agreed  entirely 
in  opinion  with  the  writer.  I  considered  this  as  a 
sacred  oath,  upon  a  very  great  occasion,  and  could 
have  sworn  it  as  religiously  as  he  did,  and  by  no 
means  inconsistent  with  what  you  say,  in  some  part 
of  your  book,  that  he  never  took  the  sacred  name  in 
vain.  .  .  .  The  other  delegates  from  Virginia 
returned  to  their  state,  in  full  confidence  that  all 

1  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  x.,  277. 


240  PATRICK   HENRY. 

our  grievances  would  be  redressed.  The  last  words 
that  Richard  Henry  Lee  said  to  me,  when  we  parted, 
were, l  We  shall  infallibly  carry  all  our  points,  you 
will  be  completely  relieved  •  all  the  offensive  acts 
will  be  repealed ;  the  army  and  fleet  will  be  recalled, 
and  Britain  will  give  up  her  foolish  project.'1 

"  Washington  only  was  in  doubt.  He  never  spoke 
in  public.  In  private  he  joined  with  those  who  ad 
vocated  a  non -exportation,  as  well  as  a  non-im 
portation  agreement.  With  both  he  thought  we 
should  prevail ;  without  either  he  thought  it  doubt 
ful.  Henry  was  clear  in  one  opinion,  Richard 
Henry  Lee  in  an  opposite  opinion,  and  Washington 
doubted  between  the  two.  Henry  however  ap 
peared  in  the  end  to  be  exactly  in  the  right." 

In  a  letter  to  Thomas  Jefferson,  November  12, 
1813,1  Mr.  Adams  also  wrote:  "In  the  Congress  of 
1774,  there  was  not  one  member,  except  Patrick 
Henry,  who  appeared  to  me  sensible  of  the  preci 
pice,  or  rather,  the  pinnacle  on  which  he  stood,  and 
had  candor  and  courage  enough  to  acknowledge  it." 

Independence  was  not  the  wish  of  the  Congress, 
but  it  was  their  determination  to  maintain  the  rights 
of  the  colonies  at  all  hazards,  and  to  the  last  ex 
tremity.  This  was  explicitly  stated,  not  only  in  the 
papers  adopted,  but  in  their  private  utterances  as 
recorded  in  the  correspondence  of  the  members.2 
In  this  they  correctly  represented  the  people,  who 
as  yet  only  desired  to  be  left  in  possession  of  their 
rights  as  they  had  been  enjoyed  before  1763. 

As  the  struggle  soon  ended  in  open  war,  the  Con 
gress  has  been  criticised  by  some  later  writers  for 

1  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  x. ,  78. 

2  Letter  of  George  Washington  to  Captain  Mackenzie,  October  9,  1774. 
Letter  of  John  Jay  to  G.  A.  Otis,  January  13,  1821. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS.  241 

not  at  once  preparing  for  the  appeal  to  arms,  and 
for  adopting  the  system  of  non-importation  and  non- 
exportation,  which  prevented  the  colonies  from  sup 
plying  themselves  with  those  articles  so  necessary 
for  the  proper  conduct  of  war.  These  criticisms 
are  unjust.  The  action  of  the  Congress  must  be 
judged  by  the  condition  of  things  surrounding  them. 
That  action  was  directed  by  the  instructions  of  Vir 
ginia  to  her  delegation,  and  was  in  accordance  with 
the  desire  of  all  the  colonies.  Different  action 
would  have  produced  divisions,  more  dangerous  than 
all  else  in  the  approaching  strife.  Nothing  could 
have  produced  the  unanimity  with  which  America 
entered  into  the  war,  except  the  failure  of  the  meas 
ures  adopted  by  the  Congress.  Similar  measures 
had  caused  the  repeal  of  nearly  all  of  the  Towns- 
hend  Acts,  and  it  was  the  general  hope  that  they 
would  again  prove  effective.  Until  they  had  been 
tried  and  failed  the  colonies  could  not  have  been 
united  in  other  measures  of  opposition.  Nor  were 
the  people  without  good  ground  for  their  hope. 
The  export  trade  of  England  with  the  colonies  was 
over  six  millions  of  pounds  sterling,  and  constituted 
much  more  than  one-third  of  her  exports ; 1  while 
the  exports  from  America  to  Eng]and  must  have 
been  as  great,  as  the  colonies  had  not  the  specie 
with  which  to  settle  a  balance  of  trade  against 
them.  In  the  article  of  grain  alone,  including 
rice,  the  exports  from  America  exceeded  one  mil 
lion  in  value,  so  that  Burke  could  remind  Great 
Britain  in  March,  1775,  that  "For  some  time  past 
the  Old  "World  has  been  fed  from  the  New.  The 
scarcity  which  you  have  felt  would  have  been  a 

1  Speech  of  Burke  on  Conciliation,  March  22,  1775. 


242  PATRICK   HENRY. 

desolating  famine  if  the  child  of  your  old  ager 
with  true  filial  piety,  with  a  Roman  charity,  had 
not  put  the  full  breast  of  its  youthful  exuberance 
to  the  mouth  of  its  exhausted  parent."  To  sud 
denly  arrest  this  great  trade,  and  to  suspend  the 
payment  of  the  large  balances  due  to  English  mer 
chants,  it  was  believed  would  seriously  affect  the 
prosperity  of  England,  and  cause  a  popular  demand 
for  a  change  of  public  measures.  This  last  was  the 
design  of  the  colonies,  and  it  was  reasonable  to  ex 
pect  it  would  follow.  To  accomplish  it  they  will 
ingly  suffered  the  privation  demanded  of  them, 
and  loyally  trusted  that  it  would  result  in  their 
continued  connection  with  England  on  the  old 
terms. 

But  these  measures  did  not  greatly  weaken  the 
colonies.  Their  first  effect  was  of  course  to  create 
a  scarcity  of  all  articles  of  importation,  but  this  at 
once  stimulated  home  production,  and  caused  the 
colonies  to  become  in  a  short  time  nearly  self-sus 
taining. 

Virginia  was  undoubtedly  the  leading  colony  in 
the  Congress  and  no  other  could  have  contested  her 
precedence  except  Massachusetts.  But  the  peculiar 
condition  of  the  latter,  and  the  suspicion  on  the  part 
of  many  that  New  England  was  aiming  at  inde 
pendence,  caused  her  delegates  to  keep  as  much  in 
the  background  as  possible.  John  Adams  tells  us 
that  it  was  for  this  reason  that  the  Virginia  dele 
gates  were  put  forward  as  the  leaders  of  the  body.1 
That  the  action  of  the  Congress  under  this  leader 
ship  was  all  that  was  desired  by  the  Massachusetts 
delegates,  we  are  assured  by  Samuel  Adams  in  a  let- 

1  Adams  to  T.  Pickering,  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  ii.,  513. 


CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS.  243 

ter  read  in  the  Provincial  Congress  of  that  colony, 
October  27,  1774.1 

The  Journal  fully  sustains  the  fact  of  Virginia's 
leadership,  as  it  shows  that  a  Virginia  delegate 
was  placed  upon  every  committee  appointed,  ex 
cept  the  one  to  revise  and  publish  the  Journal. 
Where  the  committees  were  important  there  were 
always  two  members  from  Virginia,  however  small 
the  committee.  Mr.  Henry  or  Mr.  Lee  was  al 
most  invariably  the  member,  and  sometimes  both 
were  on  the  same  committee.  Thus  the  impress 
of  these  two  men  was  upon  the  entire  proceed 
ings. 

The  statement  that  Mr.  Henry  was  placed  upon 
the  committee  to  prepare  a  petition  to  the  King  be 
cause  of  his  splendid  speech  at  the  opening,  and  that 
he  showed  himself  inefficient  in  matters  of  detail,2 
is  proved  to  be  untrue,  by  the  record.  This  shows 
that  the  committees  were  selected  by  the  body,  that 
the  first  on  which  Mr.  Henry  was  placed  was  the  one 
appointed  September  7,  to  report  the  statutes  which 
affected  the  trade  and  manufactures  of  the  colonies 
—a  work  of  dry  details.  This  committee  reported 
on  the  17th,  and  on  the  19th,  its  report  was  referred 
to  the  committee  to  state  the  rights  of  the  colonies, 
and  Mr.  Henry  was  added  to  that  committee.  A 
report  was  made  by  that  committee  September  24, 
and  October  1,  Mr.  Henry  was  appointed  on  the 
committee  to  prepare  the  petition  to  the  King. 
These  facts  show  the  high  estimate  of  him  by  the 
body  as  a  committee  man.  It  is  worthy  of  note 
that  his  resolutions  against  the  Stamp  Act  were 

1  American  Archives,  i.,  949.     Well's  Life  of  Samuel  Adams,  ii.,  245. 

2  Made  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Wirt. 


244  PATRICK  HENRY. 

substantially  incorporated  in  the  report  on  the 
rights  of  the  colonies. 

The  wisdom,  the  dignity,  the  firmness,  the  states 
manship,  the  elevated  patriotism  displayed  in  the 
papers  adopted  by  the  Congress,  and  the  elegance 
of  their  composition,  excited  the  highest  admiration 
among  the  patriots  of  America  and  their  friends  in 
England.  Lord  Chatham  said  of  them  in  the  House 
of  Lords  :  *  "When  your  lordships  look  at  the  pa 
pers  transmitted  us  from  America,  when  you  con 
sider  their  decency,  firmness,  and  wisdom,  you  can 
not  but  respect  their  cause,  and  wish  to  make  it 
your  own.  For  myself,  I  must  declare  and  avow, 
that  in  all  my  reading  of  history  and  observation — 
and  it  has  been  my  favorite  study — I  have  read 
Thucydides,  and  have  studied  and  admired  the  mas 
ter-states  of  the  world — that  for  solidity  of  reason 
ing,  force  of  sagacity,  and  wisdom  of  conclusion 
under  such  a  complication  of  difficult  circumstances, 
no  nation,  or  body  of  men,  can  stand  in  preference  to 
the  general  Congress  at  Philadelphia.  I  trust  it  is 
obvious  to  your  lordships,  that  all  attempts  to  im 
pose  servitude  upon  such  men,  to  establish  despot 
ism  over  such  a  mighty  continental  nation,  must  be 
vain,  must  be  fatal."  And  Lord  Camden  is  reported 
to  have  said  2  of  the  body,  "  that  he  would  have  given 
half  his  fortune  to  have  been  a  member  of  that 
which  he  believed  to  be  the  most  virtuous  public 
body  of  men  which  ever  had  or  ever  would  meet 
together  in  this  world." 

The  authorship  of  the  several  papers  of  the  Con 
gress  in  after  years  became  a  matter  of  earnest  dis 
cussion,  when  nearly  all  the  members  were  in  their 

1  Parliamentary  History,  xviii. ,  155.        •  Life  of  Janies  Iredell,  i.,  229. 


CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS,  245 

graves.  It  seems  to  have  been  definitely  determined 
that  Richard  Henry  Lee  wrote  the  memorial  to 
the  people  of  British  America,  John  Jay  the  ad 
dress  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  and  John 
Dickinson  the  address  to  the  people  of  Quebec.  A 
copy  of  the  report  upon  the  rights  of  the  colonies 
has  been  found  in  the  handwriting  of  John  Sulli 
van,  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  he  may  be 
presumed  to  have  been  its  author,  in  the  absence  of 
other  testimony.  A  copy  of  a  petition  to  the  King 
has  been  found  in  the  handwriting  of  Richard 
Henry  Lee,1  which  is  very  imperfect,  and  contains 
none  of  the  matters  directed  by  the  Congress  to 
be  inserted  in  it.  It  is  claimed  by  his  biographer 
that  he  wrote  the  address  first  reported.  But  John 
Dickinson  claimed  the  authorship  of  the  paper 
adopted.  The  first  report  of  the  committee  was  on 
October  21.  The  Journal  says  :  "  The  address  to 
the  King  being  read,  after  debate,  ordered  that  the 
same  be  recommitted,  and  that  Mr.  J.  Dickinson  be 
added  to  the  committee."  A  second  report  was 
made  on  Monday  24.  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Logan, 
September  15,  1804,  John  Dickinson  wrote  of  this 
address : 2  "  The  truth  is,  that  the  draught  brought 
in  by  the  original  committee  was  written  in  lan 
guage  of  asperity,  very  little  according  with  the 
conciliatory  disposition  of  Congress.  The  committee 
on  my  being  added  to  them  desired  me  to  draw  the 
address,  which  I  did,  and  the  draught  was  reported 
by  me." 

The  statement  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Mr.  Wirt,  that 
on  attending  the  next  Congress  he  was  informed 

1  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  March,  1860. 

2  American  Quarterly  Review,  i. ,  414. 


246  PATRICK   HENRY. 

that  Mr.  Henry  was  selected  by  his  committee  to 
draw  this  petition  to  the  King,  must  have  been 
erroneous,  an  error  either  due  to  the  imperfect 
memory  of  Mr.  Jefferson  or  to  incorrect  informa 
tion  on  the  part  of  his  informant.  It  was  doubt 
less  because  of  the  incorrect  information  given  him 
by  Mr.  Jefferson,  both  as  to  Mr.  Henry  and  Mr. 
Lee,  that  Mr.  Wirt  was  led  to  say  of  them,1  that  in 
the  details  of  business  they  were  completely  thrown 
in  the  shade  by  the  other  members.  The  Journal 
of  the  body  and  the  diary  of  John  Adams  show 
that  they  were  highly  appreciated  as  committee  men. 

The  impression  Mr.  Henry  made  upon  the  body 
may  be  estimated  by  the  tribute  to  him  by  John 
Adams  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Wirt,  January  23,  1818.2 
Said  he :  "I  esteem  the  character  of  Mr.  Henry  an 
honor  to  our  country,  and  your  volume  a  masterly 
delineation  of  it.  ...  From  personal  acquaint 
ance,  perhaps  I  might  say  a  friendship,  with  Mr. 
Henry  of  more  than  thirty  years,  and  from  all  that 
I  have  heard  or  read  of  him,  I  have  always  con 
sidered  him  as  a  gentleman  of  deep  reflection,  keen 
sagacity,  clear  foresight,  daring  enterprise,  inflexible 
intrepidity  and  untainted  integrity,  with  an  ardent 
zeal  for  the  liberties,  the  honor,  and  the  felicity  of 
his  country,  and  his  species." 

And  in  his  diary  for  October  10,  1774,  he  wrote, 
"  Lee,  Henry  and  Hooper  are  the  orators." 

We  have  also  a  contemporaneous  statement  of 
Silas  Deane,  in  a  letter  to  his  wife,  dated  September 
19,  1774,  two  days  after  the  discussion  on  the  Suf 
folk  Resolves.  He  wrote  : 

"  Mr.  Henry  is  also  a  lawyer,  and  the  compleatest 

1  Wirt's  Henry,  Section  iv.       2  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  x. ,  277. 


CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS.  247 


speaker  I  ever  heard.  If  his  future  speeches  are 
equal  to  the  small  samples  he  has  hitherto  given  us, 
they  will  be  worth  preserving ;  but  in  a  letter  I  can 
give  you  no  idea  of  the  music  of  his  voice,  or  the 
high  wrought  yet  natural  elegance  of  his  style  and 
manner.  Col.  Lee  is  said  to  be  his  rival  in  elo 
quence,  and  in  Virginia  and  to  the  southward  they 
are  styled  the  Demosthenes  and  Cicero  of  America. 
God  grant  they  may  not,  like  them,  plead  in  vain  for 
the  liberties  of  their  country !  These  last  gentle 
men  are  now  in  full  life,  perhaps  near  fifty,  and  have 
made  the  constitution  and  history  of  Great  Britain 
and  America  their  capital  study  ever  since  the  late 
troubles  between  them  have  arisen." 1 

Mr.  Henry  formed  a  warm  personal  attachment 
to  several  of  the  members,  and  especially  to  John 
and  Samuel  Adams,  whose  talents  and  ardent  pa 
triotism  he  greatly  admired.  When  returned  to  his 
home  he  was  asked  by  a  neighbor  who  he  thought 
the  greatest  man  in  Congress  ?  He  answered  "  Rut- 
ledge,  if  you  speak  of  eloquence,  is  by  far  the  great 
est  orator,  but  Col.  Washington,  who  has  no  pre 
tensions  to  eloquence,  is  a  man  of  more  solid 
judgment  and  information  than  any  man  on  that 
floor.7'2  As  he  looked  upon  Mr.  John  Rutledge's 
views  with  dislike,  and  as  Colonel  Washington's 
modesty  had  kept  him  in  the  background,  so  that 
he  had  not  been  placed  upon  a  single  committee, 
this  reply  indicates  not  only  the  great  discrimina 
tion,  but  the  justice  of  Mr.  Henry  in  judging  men, 
whether  friends  or  opponents. 

1  Collection  of  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  ii.,  181. 

2  MS.  Letter  of  Nathaniel  Pope  to  William  Wirt.    Captain  Dabney,  who 
asked  the  question,  related  the  incident  to  Mr.  Pope. 


CHAPTER  XL 

ARMING  THE  COLONY— 1774-1775. 

Letter  of  Patrick  Henry's  Mother. — Conduct  of  Governor  Dun- 
more. — Hanover  County,  under  the  Influence  of  Patrick  Henry, 
Leads  in  Adopting  the  Association,  and  Appointing  a  Commit 
tee  to  Enforce  it. — Virginia  Aids  in  Supporting  the  People 
of  Boston.— Hanover  Volunteers  Enlisted.— Effect  of  the  Ad 
dresses  of  Congress  in  England. — Second  Virginia  Convention. 
— Patrick  Henry  Moves  to  Arm  the  Colony. — His  Eloquent 
Speech  in  Support  of  His  Motion. — Accounts  Given  by  Edmund 
Randolph,  John  Tyler  and  St.  George  Tucker.  —  Descrip 
tion  by  a  Baptist  Clergyman. — By  John  Roane. — By  Thomas 
Marshall. — Proceedings  in  Parliament. — Ordinances  of  the  Vir 
ginia  Convention. 

A  LETTER  of  Mr.  Henry's  mother,  written  during  his 
absence  in  Congress,  is  interesting  as  affording  a 
glimpse  of  the  condition  of  the  colony,  and  showing 
her  own  pious  trust  in  God.  She  had  gone  on  a 
visit  to  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Anne  Christian,  in  Bote- 
tourt  County,  and,  while  with  her,  Colonel  Christian 
was  called  to  take  part  in  the  Indian  war.  He 
arranged  that  Mrs.  Henry  should  carry  his  wife  and 
children  home  with  her  to  Hanover,  in  order  that 
they  might  be  in  no  danger  from  the  Indians  dur 
ing  his  absence  with  Dunmore's  army.  On  their 
way  they  stayed  a  night  with  Colonel  William  Flem 
ing,  whose  wife  was  a  sister  of  Colonel  Christian, 
and  met,  at  his  house,  his  sister-in-law,  Eosina  Chris 
tian,  afterward  the  wife  of  Caleb  Wallace.  On 
reaching  home,  Mrs.  Henry  wrote  Mrs.  Fleming  the 
following  letter,  which  is  not  only  interesting  in 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  249 

itself,  but  also  from  the  fact  that  it  is  probably 
the  only  letter  of  Mrs.  Henry  which  has  been 
preserved. 

"15  OCTOBER,  1774. 

"  DEAK  MADAM  :  Kind  Providence  preserved  me 
and  all  with  me  safe  to  our  home  in  Hanover. 
Here  people  have  been  very  sickly,  but  hope  the 
sickly  season  is  nigh  over.  My  dear  Annie  has 
been  ailing  two  or  three  days  with  a  fever.  The 
dear  children  are  very  well.  My  son  Patrick  has 
gone  to  Philadelphia  near  seven  weeks.  The  affairs 
are  kept  with  great  secrecy,  nobody  being  allowed 
to  be  present.  I  assure  you  we  have  our  lowland 
troubles  and  fears  with  respect  to  Great  Britain. 
Perhaps  our  good  God  may  bring  us  out  of  these 
many  evils,  which  threaten  us  not  only  from  the 
mountains  but  from  the  seas.  I  can  not  forget  to 
thank  my  dear  Mrs.  Fleming  for  the  great  kind 
ness  that  you  showed  us  in  Botetourt,  and  assure 
you  that  I  remember  Colonel  Fleming  and  you 
with  much  esteem  and  best  wishes,  and  shall  take 
it  very  kind  if  you  will  let  me  hear  from  you. 

"  My  daughter  Betty  joins  me  in  kind  love  to 
yourself  and  Miss  Rosie,  and  especially  to  your 
dear  good  mother  when  you  see  her. 

"  I  am,  dear  madam,  your  humble  servant, 

"SAKAH  HENRY." 

Mr.  Henry  found  on  his  return  the  Assembly 
further  prorogued,  the  Governor  still  on  his  Indian 
expedition,  and  the  courts  of  the  colony  entirely 
suspended  because  of  the  expiration  of  the  act  for 
negotiating  and  collecting  officers'  fees.  Even  after 
the  Governor's  return  in  December  he  refused  to 
call  the  Assembly  together,  hoping  the  political 
excitement  would  abate,  and  fearing  the  action 


250  PATRICK   HENRY. 

of  the  body.  But  his  course  inflamed  the  popular 
feeling.  The  people  came  together  in  county  meet 
ings,  approved  the  proceedings  of  Congress,  adopted 
the  association,  and  appointed  the  committees  rec 
ommended.  Hanover  County,  under  the  direction 
of  Mr.  Henry,  led  the  way,  appointing  its  commit 
tee  early  in  November.1  These  committees,  whose 
powers  were  undefined,  assumed  the  functions  of 
government  in  the  confusion  which  soon  followed, 
and  became  known  as  "  Committees  of  Safety." 

The  people  continued  their  contributions  to  the 
brave  Bostonians,  who,  with  wonderful  self-denial 
and  firmness,  stood  for  the  liberties  of  America.  In 
acknowledging  one  of  these  contributions,  Samuel 
Adams  wrote : 2  "  Virginia  made  an  early  stand,  by 
their  ever  memorable  resolves  of  1765,  against  the 
efforts  of  a  corrupt  administration  to  enslave  Amer 
ica,  and  has  ever  distinguished  herself  by  her  exer 
tions  in  support  of  our  common  rights.  The  sister 
colonies  struggled  separately ;  but  the  minister  him 
self  has  at  length  united  them,  and  they  have  lately 
uttered  language  that  will  be  heard.  It  is  the  fate 
of  this  town  to  drink  deep  of  the  cup  of  ministerial 
vengeance ;  but  while  America  bears  them  witness 
that  they  suffer  in  her  cause,  they  glory  in  their 
sufferings." 

Thus  the  attack  upon  the  town  of  Boston  and 
upon  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  which  was  in 
tended  by  the  Ministry  to  divide  the  colonies  that 
they  might  be  robbed  of  their  rights,  drew  them 
into  a  close  union,  and  made  them  unconquerable. 

1  A  card  in  the  Williamsburg  Gazette,  dated  November  12,  1774,  signed 
Paul  Thilmau,  asks  pardon  for  violating  the  association,  for  which  he 
had  been  convicted  by  the  Hanover  Committee. 

2  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  4th  Series,  iv. ,  185. 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  251 

Congress,  in  their  address  to  the  people  of  Amer 
ica,  had  advised  them  "  to  extend  their  views  to 
mournful  events,  and  be  in  all  respects  prepared 
for  every  contingency."  The  people  of  Massachu 
setts  had  already  commenced  military  preparations, 
and  during  the  winter  the  other  colonies  began  to  or 
ganize  military  companies,  and  to  procure  ammuni 
tion.  There  was  but  little  division  among  the  people 
except  in  New  York  and  Georgia.  The  New  York 
Assembly  refused  to  approve  of  the  proceedings  of 
Congress,  corruptly  influenced,  it  was  believed,  by 
British  gold,1  and  it  was  only  after  a  warm  contest 
that  the  patriots  carried  the  day  in  Georgia. 

In  Virginia  Mr.  Henry  enlisted  the  first  military 
company  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress.  In  a 
report  of  the  next  Assembly  upon  the  condition  of 
the  colony  it  is  stated,  that  a  committee  was  ap 
pointed,  and  a  company  enlisted,  but  not  embodied, 
in  Hanover  in  November.  This  was  doubtless  at 
the  time  the  county  committee  was  appointed.  Mr. 
Henry's  action  as  regards  the  company  is  related 
in  a  letter  of  Charles  Dabney,2  one  of  the  members. 
He  says  :  u  Soon  after  Mr.  Patrick  Henry's  return 
from  the  first  Congress  notice  was  given  through  his 
means  to  the  militia  of  Hanover,  to  attend  at  Mr. 
Smith's  tavern3  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hanover 
Court  House,  whe.re  he  wished  to  communicate  some 
thing  to  them  of  great  importance.  Accordingly  a 
considerable  number  of  the  younger  part  of  the 
militia  attended,  and  he  addressed  them  in  a  very 
animated  speech,  pointing  out  the  necessity  of  our 

1  Henry  Ireton  to  Mrs.    Quincy,  Memoir  of  Josiah   Quincy,  Jr.,  p. 
230. 

2  MS.  letter  to  Mr.  Wirt,  December  21,  1805. 

3  Now  known  as  Merry  Oaks. 


252  PATRICK  HENRY. 

having  recourse  to  arms  in  defence  of  our  rights, 
and  recommending  in  strong  terms  that  we  should 
immediately  form  ourselves  into  a  volunteer  com 
pany.  A  number  of  those  present  immediately  en 
rolled  themselves  on  the  list  of  volunteers,  one  of 
the  regulations  of  which  was,  that  when  a  sufficient 
number  of  men  were  enlisted  to  form  a  company, 
they  should  choose  the  officers  to  command  them." 
This  company  was  soon  to  attract  the  attention  of 
the  continent. 

In  some  other  counties  companies  were  enlisted, 
but  the  next  Assembly  declared  in  a  report,  based 
upon  testimony  taken  before  a  committee,  that  on 
December  24,  1774,  when  the  Governor  wrote  to 
Lord  Dartmouth  that  "  every  county  is  now  arming 
a  company  of  men  whom  they  call  an  independent 
company,"  there  were  not  more  than  six  or  seven 
such  companies  throughout  the  whole  colony.  So 
unanimous  were  the  people  in  signing  and  keeping 
the  association  that  the  committees  had  but  little 
or  no  need  of  military  aid,  and  the  suspense  of  the 
colony  as  to  the  effect  in  England  of  the  action  of 
Congress,  retarded  preparations  for  war,  which  it 
was  hoped  would  be  avoided.1  This  hope  was 
greatly  weakened  by  the  reception  in  February  of 
the  King's  speech  on  opening  Parliament,  Novem 
ber  30,  in  which  he  described  the  non-importation 
agreements  entered  into  before  the  meeting  of  Con 
gress,  whose  proceedings  had  not  then  reached  Eng- 

1  Rives,  in  his  Life  of  Madison,  i. ,  65,  cites  statements  of  several  letter 
writers,  the  Governor  among  them,  to  prove  that  before  the  meeting  of 
the  convention  in  March,  and  Mr.  Henry's  motion  to  arm  the  colony, 
there  had  been  a  military  organization  in  each  county,  but  the  evidence 
taken  by  the  Assembly  (see  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  ii.,  1211-15) 
proves  the  contrary. 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.       ,  253 

land,  as  "  unwarrantable  attempts  to  obstruct  the 
commerce  of  this  kingdom  by  unlawful  combina 
tions,"  and  as  exhibiting  "a  most  daring  spirit  of 
resistance  and  disobedience  to  the  law."  The  situa 
tion  in  America  is  described  in  a  letter  of  Richard 
Henry  Lee  to  his  brother  Arthur,  then  in  London, 
dated  February  24,  1775.1  He  says : 

"All  America  has  received  with  astonishment 
and  concern  the  speech  to  Parliament.  The  wicked 
violence  of  the  ministry  is  so  clearly  expressed  as 
to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  fatal  determination  to 
ruin  both  countries,  unless  a  powerful  and  timely  , 
check  is  interposed  by  the  body  of  the  people.  A  / 
very  small  corrupted  junto  in  New  York  excepted, 
all  North  America  is  now  most  firmly  united  and 
as  firmly  resolved,  to  defend  their  liberties,  ad  in- 
finitum,  against  every  power  on  earth,  that  may 
attempt  to  take  them  away.  The  most  effectual 
measures  are  everywhere  taking  to  secure  a  sacred 
observance  of  the  association.  Manufactures  go 
rapidly  on,  and  the  means  of  repelling  force  by 
force  are  universally  adopting." 

As  stated  in  this  letter,  the  only  hope  now  enter 
tained  was  that  the  body  of  the  people  of  England 
would  interpose  an  effectual  check  upon  the  designs 
of  the  ministry.  The  proceedings  of  Congress 
reached  England  in  December,  during  the  recess  of 
Parliament.  Their  effect  was  marked.  When  Par 
liament  assembled  again  in  January,  there  were  laid 
before  them  petitions  from  London,  Bristol,  Nor 
wich,  Dudley,  Birmingham,  Liverpool,  Manchester, 
and  Wolverhampton,  representing  the  great  distress 
occasioned  by  the  interruption  of  the  colonial  com 

1  See  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  November,  1859. 


254  PATRICK  HENRY. 

merce,  and  praying  that  such  conciliatory  legisla 
tion  be  adopted  as  would  restore  it  to  its  former 
condition.  Not  only  did  the  interruption  of  trade 
interest  the  British  merchants  on  behalf  of  Amer 
ica,  but  the  dignity  and  wisdom  of  Congress  ex 
cited  an  admiration  for  the  American  patriots  never 
before  felt  in  Great  Britain. 

When  the  petition  to  the  King  was  presented  to 
His  Majesty,  he  received  it  very  graciously,  and 
promised  to  lay  it  before  Parliament,  but  at  a  cabi 
net  council,  held  January  12,  he  insisted  on  yield 
ing  nothing  to  the  colonies,  and  it  was  determined 
to  interdict  all  commerce  with  them,  to  protect  the 
loyal  colonists,  and  to  declare  all  others  traitors  and 
rebels.1  On  January  20,  Lord  Chatham  moved  in 
the  House  of  Lords  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops 
from  Boston,  and  delivered  his  celebrated  speech  in 
its  advocacy,  but  his  motion  was  lost  by  a  vote  of 
68  to  18.  The  House  of  Commons  showed  a  more 
decided  majority  in  favor  of  the  Ministry,  and  vig 
orous  measures  were  taken  to  enforce  the  subjec 
tion  of  the  colonies.  In  a  bill  introduced  offering 
pardon  to  repentant  rebels,  Mr.  Henry,  with  some 
twenty  others,  had  the  honor  of  being  excepted  by 
name.2 

The  second  Virginia  Convention  met  in  St.  John's 
Church,  Richmond,  March  20,  1775.  They  came 
together  in  ignorance  of  the  proceedings  in  Parlia 
ment  upon  the  reception  of  the  action  of  Congress.  • 
The  latest  information  they  had  was  contained  in 
the  Williamsburg  Gazette  of  the  18th,  which  printed 
a  letter  from  London  dated  December  14,  1774,  re 
lating  the  gracious  reception  of  the  petition  by  the 

1  Bancroft,  vii.,  193.  2  Jefferson's  Memoir. 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  255 

King,  and  adding,  "  The  buzz  at  court  is  that  all  the 
acts  will  be  repealed  except  the  admiralty  and  de 
claratory,  and  that  North  and  Dartmouth  will  be 
replaced  by  Gower  and  Hillsborough."  This  revived 
the  hopes  of  the  more  conservative  of  the  patriots, 
who  still  trusted  that  the  Ministry  would  retrace 
their  footsteps  and  all  would  be  well  again. 

The  Convention  organized  by  electing  Peyton 
Randolph  president,  and  at  once  took  into  consider 
ation  the  proceedings  of  the  Continental  Congress. 
These  they  heartily  approved.  They  next  presented 
the  thanks  of  the  body  and  of  the  Colony  to  the 
Virginia  delegation,  "for  their  cheerful  undertak 
ing  and  faithful  discharge  of  the  very  important 
trust  imposed  in  them."  On  the  third  day  of  the 
session  a  copy  of  the  petition  and  memorial  of  the 
Assembly  of  the  Island  of  Jamaica,  addressed  to 
the  King,  December  28,  1774,  was  laid  before  the 
convention  and  read.1  This  was  a  bold  vindication 
of  the  rights  of  the  American  colonies,  but  was  ob 
jectionable  in  two  of  its  positions.  It  traced  the  grant 
of  colonial  rights  to  the  King,  and  claimed  that  the 
royal  prerogative  annexed  to  the  Crown  was  totally 
independent  of  the  people,  who  could  not  invade, 
add  to,  or  diminish  it.  This  extreme  Tory  doctrine 
was  not  to  the  liking  of  the  advanced  patriots,  nor 
necessary  for  the  vindication  of  American  rights, 
which  were  not  dependent  on  royal  grants  alone. 
Another  matter  contained  in  the  paper,  equally  ob 
jectionable,  was  the  declaration  of  the  Assembly,  that 
owing  to  their  weak  condition,  caused  by  slavery,  it 
could  not  be  supposed  they  intended,  or  ever  could 
have  intended,  resistance  to  Great  Britain.  The  bal- 

1  See  this  paper  in  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  i.,  1072-74. 


256  PATRICK   HENRY. 

ance  of  the  paper,  however,  was  a  severe  rebuke 
to  the  British  Government,  and  an  able  defence 
of  America.  This  last  pleased  many  members  of 
the  Convention  and  led  them  to  overlook  what  was 
deemed  objectionable.  Accordingly  it  was  moved — 

"  That  the  unfeigned  thanks  and  most  grateful  ac 
knowledgments  of  this  Convention  be  presented  to 
that  very  respectable  Assembly,  for  the  exceeding 
generous  and  affectionate  part  they  have  so  nobly 
taken  in  the  unhappy  contest  between  Great  Brit 
ain  and  her  colonies,  and  for  their  truly  patriotic 
endeavors  to  fix  the  just  claims  of  the  colonists 
upon  the  most  permanent  constitutional  principles. 

"  That  the  Assembly  be  assured  that  it  is  the  most 
ardent  wish  of  this  colony  (and  we  are  persuaded 
of  the  whole  continent  of  North  America)  to  see  a 
speedy  return  to  those  halcyon  days  when  we  lived 
a  free  and  happy  people. 

"  That  the  President  be  desired  to  transmit  these 
resolutions  to  the  Speaker  of  the  Jamaica  Assembly 
by  the  earliest  opportunity." 

These  resolutions  were  not  suited  to  the  views  of 
Mr.  Henry.  He  could  but  unite  in  the  vote  of 
thanks  for  "their  truly  patriotic  endeavors  to  fix 
the  just  claims  of  the  colonists  upon  the  most  per 
manent  constitutional  principles,"  but  he  could  not 
agree  with  the  toryism  and  non-resistance  contained 
in  the  paper.  He  was  certain  that  there  would  be 
no  real  change  of  policy  in  England,  and  that  the 
colonies  would  never  see  a  return  of  the  i(  halcyon 
days  "  of  old.  He  saw,  too,  the  danger  of  exciting 
in  the  colony  any  such  hope,  when  no  time  should  be 
]ost  in  arming  for  the  approaching  conflict.  He 
realized  the  fact  that  the  independent  volunteer 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  257 

companies,  raised  in  different  parts  of  the  colony, 
could  not  be  relied  on  for  sustained  effort,  unless 
they  were  made  a  part  of  a  colonial  army,  and  that 
any  preparation  for  war,  to  be  efficient,  must  be  or 
ganized  and  controlled  under  the  authority  of  the 
colony.  His  clear  vision  had  pierced  into  the  fut 
ure,  and  he  now  saw  that  the  hour  of  conflict  in  the 
field  was  at  hand.  Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost. 
He  at  once  arose  and  offered  as  an  amendment  the 
following  resolutions : 

"Resolved,  That  a  well  regulated  militia,  com 
posed  of  gentlemen  and  yeomen,  is  the  natural 
strength  and  only  security  of  a  free  government; 
that  such  a  militia  in  this  colony  would  for  ever 
render  it  unnecessary  for  the  mother  country  to  keep 
among  us,  for  the  purpose  of  our  defence,  any  stand 
ing  army  of  mercenary  soldiers,  always  subversive 
of  the  quiet,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the 
people,  and  would  obviate  the  pretext  of  taxing  us 
for  their  support. 

''That  the  establishment  of  such  a  militia  is,  at 
this  time,  peculiarly  necessary,  by  the  state  of~our 
laws  for  the  protection  and  defence  of  the  country, 
some  of  which  have  already  expired,  and  others 
will  shortly  be  so ;  and  that  the  known  remiss- 
ness  of  the  government  in  calling  us  together 
in  legislative  capacity,  renders  it  too  insecure, 
in  this  time  of  danger  and  distress,  to  rely  that 
opportunity  will  be  given  of  renewing  them,  in 
general  assembly,  or  making  any  provision  to 
secure  our  inestimable  rights  and  liberties,  from 
those  further  violations  with  which  they  are  threat 
ened. 

"  Resolved,  therefore,  Thai  this  colony  te  immedi 
ately  put  into  a  state  of  defence,  and  that 
be  a  committee  to  prepare  a  plan  for  embodying, 


258  PATRICK  HENRY. 

arming,  and  disciplining  such  a  number  of  men,  as 
may  be  sufficient  for  that  purpose" 

The  first  of  these  was  taken  from  a  resolution  of 
the  Maryland  Convention  of  December  8,  1774,1 
which  had  been  followed  by  the  Fairfax  County 
committee,  January  17,  1775,  in  a  paper  drawn  by 
George  Mason  and  presented  by  George  Washing 
ton,2  and  had  been  preceded  by  the  New  Castle 
(Delaware)  committee  December  21,  1774,3  which 
based  its  action  on  "an  intimation  given  by  the 
Continental  Congress."  And  other  bodies  had  de 
termined  on  arming  and  drilling  the  militia  under 
their  control.  But  the  second  resolution  of  Mr. 
Henry  looked  to  an  immediate  preparation  for  a 
conflict  of  arms ;  not  simply  to  the  drilling  of  the 
militia,  but  to  the  embodying  of  an  army  for 
the  defence  of  the  Colony.  The  resolution  itself 
clearly  disclosed  its  object,  and  Mr.  Henry,  in  his 
§peech  enforcing  it,  left  no  doubt  of  his  purpose. 
/He  would  have  the  Convention,  with  him,  give  up 
all  hope  of  a  peaceful  settlement,  and  recognize  the 
fact  that  they  were  virtually  at  jffar  with  (jreat 
Britain.4 

TucTge  Tucker,  who  was  present,  relates  that  "  this 
resolution  produced  an  animated  debate,  in  which 
Col.  Kichard  Bland,  Mr.  Nicholas,  the  treasurer, 
and  I  think  Col.  Harrison,  of  Berkele}7,  and  Mr. 
Pendleton  were  opposed  to  the  resolution,  conceiv 
ing  it  to  be  premature." 

Notwithstanding   the  fact    that    no  information 
had  been  received  of  the  action  of  the  Government 

1  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  i.,  1032.  3  Idem,  1145. 

3  Idem,  1022.  4  Tyler's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  122. 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  259 

upon  the  papers  issued  by  the  Congress,  and  the 
earnest  opposition  of  so  many  of  his  able  associates 
in  the  patriot  cause,  who  hesitated  upon  the  thresh 
old  of  war,  and  still  hoped  for  reconciliation,  his 
resolutions  were  carried. 

The  memorable  scene  which  occurred  is  thus  de 
scribed  by  Edmund  Randolph  in  his  history  of  Vir 
ginia  : l 

"  A  resolution  was  passed  for  immediately  put 
ting  the  colony  into  a  posture  of  defence,  and  for 
preparing  a  plan  of  embodying  and  disciplining  such 
a  number  of  men  as  might  be  sufficient  for  that  pur 
pose.  Henry  moved  and  Richard  Henry  Lee  sec 
onded  it.  The  fangs  of  European  criticism  might 
be  challenged  to  spread  themselves  against  the  elo 
quence  of  that  awful  day.  It  was  a  proud  one  to 
a  Virginian,  feeling  and  acting  with  his  country. 
Demosthenes  invigorated  the  timid,  and  Cicero 
charmed  the  backward.  The  multitude,  many  of 
whom  had  travelled  to  the  Convention  from  a  dis 
tance,  could  not  suppress  their  emotion.  Henry 
was  his  pure  self.  Those  who  had  toiled  in  the  ar 
tifices  of  scholastic  rhetoric,  were  involuntarily  driv 
en  into  an  inquiry  within  themselves,  whether  rules 
and  forms  and  niceties  of  elocution  would  not  have 
choked  his  native  fire.  It  blazed  so  as  to  warm  the 
coldest  heart.  In  the  sacred  place  of  meeting,  the 
church,  the  imagination  had  no  difficulty,  to  con 
ceive,  when  he  launched  forth  in  solemn  tones,  va 
rious  causes  of  scruples  against  oppressors,  that  the 
British  King  was  lying  prostrate  from  the  thunder 
of  heaven.  Henry  was  thought  in  his  attitude  to 
resemble  St.  Paul,  while  preaching  at  Athens,  and 
to  speak  as  man  was  never  known  to  speak  before. 
After  every  illusion  had  vanished,  a  prodigy  yet 

1  MS  in  possession  of  Virginia  Historical  Society. 


260  PATRICK   HENRY. 

remained.  It  was  Patrick  Henry,  born  in  obscu 
rity,  poor,  and  without  the  advantages  of  literature, 
rousing  the  genius  of  his  country,  and  binding  a 
band  of  patriots  together  to  hurl  defiance  at  the  tyr 
anny  of  so  formidable  a  nation  as  Great  Britain. 
This  enchantment  was  spontaneous  obedience  to  the 
working  of  the  soul.  When  he  uttered  what  com 
manded  respect  for  himself,  he  solicited  no  admiring 
look  from  those  who  surrounded  him.  If  he  had, 
he  must  have  been  abashed  by  meeting  every  eye 
fixed  upon  him.  He  paused,  but  he  paused  full  of 
some  rising  eruption  of  eloquence.  When  he  sat 
down,  his  sounds  vibrated  so  loudly  if  not  in  the 
ears,  at  least  in  the  memory  of  his  audience,  that 
no  other  member,  not  even  his  friend  who  was  to 
second  him,  was  yet  adventurous  enough  to  inter 
fere  with  that  voice  which  had  so  recently  subdued 
and  captivated.  After  a  few  minutes,  Richard 
Henry  Lee  fanned  and  refreshed  with  a  gale  of 
pleasure;  but  the  vessel  of  the  revolution  was  still 
under  the  impulse  of  the  tempest,  which  Henry  had 
created.  Artificial  oratory  fell  in  copious  streams 
from  the  mouth  of  Lee,  and  rules  of  persuasion  ac 
complished  everything,  which  rules  could  effect.^  If 
elegance  had  been  personified,  the  person  of  Lee 
would  have  been  chosen.  But  Henry  trampled 
upon  rules,  and  yet  triumphed,  at  this  time  perhaps 
beyond  his  own  expectation:  Jefferson  was  not  si 
lent.  He  argued  closely,  profoundly  and  warmly 
on  the  same  side.  The  post  in  this  revolutionary 
debate,  belonging  to  him,  was  that  at  which  the 
theories  of  republicanism  were  deposited.  Wash 
ington  was  prominent,  though  silent.  His  looks 
bespoke  a  mind  absorbed  in  meditation  on  his  coun 
try's  fate  :  but  a  positive*  concert  between  him  and 
Henry  could  not  more  effectually  have  exhibited 
him  to  view,  than  when  Henry  with  indignation 
ridiculed  the  idea  of  peace  'when  there  was  no 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  261 

peace/  and  enlarged  on  the  duty  of  preparing  for 
war. 

"  The  generous  and  noble-minded  Thomas  Nelson, 
who  now  for  the  first  time  took  a  more  than  com 
mon  part  in  a  great  discussion,  convulsed  the  mod 
erate  by  an  ardent  exclamation,  in  which  he  called 
God  to  witness,  that  if  any  British  troops  should 
be  landed  within  the  county  of  which  he  was  the 
lieutenant,  he  would  wait  for  no  orders,  and  would 
obey  none  which  should  forbid  him,  to  summon  his 
militia  and  repel  the  invaders  at  the  water  edge. 
His  temper,  though  it  was  sanguine,  and  had  been 
manifested  in  less  scenes  of  opposition,  seemed  to  be 
more  than  ordinarily  excited.  His  example  told 
those  who  were  happy  in  ease  and  wealth,  that  to 
shrink  was  to  be  dishonored." 

As  Thomas  Nelson  was  one  of  the  wealthiest 
men  in  the  colony,  his  accession  to  Mr.  Henry  on 
this  occasion  was  very  effective  in  its  influence  on 
the  wealthy  class,  always  slow  to  engage  in  war. 

Mr.  Wirt  has  been  able  to  give  a  condensed  ac 
count  of  Mr.  Henry's  speech,  gathered  from  the 
recollections  of  the  hearers,  principally  from  Judge 
John  Tyler  and  Judge  St.  George  Tucker.  He  says  : 

"  He  rose  at  this  time  with  a  majesty  unusual  to 
him  in  an  exordium,  and  with  all  that  self-posses 
sion  by  which  he  was  so  invariably  distinguished. 
c  No  man,'  he  said,  l  thought  more  highly  than  he 
did  of  the  patriotism,  as  well  as  abilities,  of  the 
very  worthy  gentlemen  who  had  just  addressed  the 
house.  But  different  men  often  saw  the  same  sub 
ject  in  different  lights ;  and  therefore,  he  hoped  it 
would  not  be  thought  disrespectful  to  those  gentle 
men,  if,  entertaining,  as  he  did,  opinions  of  a  char 
acter  very  opposite  to  theirs,  he  should  speak  forth 


PATRICK  HENRY. 


his  sentiments  freely,  and  without  reserve.  This,' 
lie  said,  '  was  no  time  for  ceremony.  The  question 
before  the  house  was  one  of  awful  moment  to  this 
country.  For  his  own  part,  he  considered  it  as 
nothing  less  than  a  question  of  freedom  or  slavery. 
And  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  subject, 
ought  to  be  the  freedom  of  debate.  It  was  only  in 
this  way  that  they  could  hope  to  arrive  at  truth, 
and  fulfil  the  great  responsibility  which  they  held  to 
God  and  their  country.  Should  he  keep  back  his 
opinions  at  such  a  time,  through  fear  of  giving 
offense,  he  should  consider  himself  guilty  of  trea 
son  toward  his  country,  and  of  an  act  of  disloyalty 
toward  the  majesty  of  Heaven,  which  he  revered 
above  all  earthly  kings. 

"  i  Mr.  President,'  said  he, '  it  is  natural  to  man  to 
indulge  in  the  illusions  of  hope.  We  are  apt  to  shut 
our  eyes  against  a  painful  truth — and  listen  to  the 
song  of  that  syren,  till  she  transforms  us  into  beasts. 
Is  this,'  he  asked,  i  the  part  of  wise  men,  engaged  in 
a  great  and  arduous  struggle  for  liberty  ?  Were 
we  disposed  to  be  of  the  number  of  those,  who  hav 
ing  eyes,  see  not,  and  having  ears,  hear  not,  the 
things  which  so  nearly  concern  their  temporal  sal 
vation  ?  For  his  part,  whatever  anguish  of  spirit  it 
might  cost,  Tie  was  willing  to  know  the  whole 
truth ;  to  know  the  worst,  and  to  provide  for  it. 

"  '  He  had,'  he  said,  '  but  one  lamp  by  which  his 
feet  were  guided  ;  and  that  was  the  lamp  of  expe 
rience.  He  knew  of  no  way  of  judging  the  future 
but  by  the  past.  And  judging  by  the  past,  he 
wished  to  know  what  there  had  been  in  the  conduct 
of  the  British  ministry  for  the  last  ten  years,  to  jus 
tify  those  hopes  with  which  gentlemen  had  been 
pleased  to  solace  themselves  and  the  house  ?  Is  it 
that  insidious  smile  with  which  our  petition  has 
been  lately  received?  Trust  it  not,  sir;  it  will 
prove  a  snare  to  your  feet.  Suffer  not  yourselves 


ARMING  THE   COLONY. 


"to  be  betrayed  with  a  kiss.  Ask  yourselves 
this  gracious  reception  of  our  petition  compi; 
with  those  warlike  preparations  which  cover  oui 
waters  and  darken  our  land.  Are  fleets  and 
armies  necessary  to  a  work  of  love  and  recon 
ciliation?  Have  we  shown  ourselves  so  unwilling 
to  be  reconciled,  that  force  must  be  called  in  to  win 
back  our  love  ?  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves,  sir. 
These  are  the  implements  of  war  and  subjugation — 
the  last  arguments  to  which  kings  resort.  I  ask  gen 
tlemen,  sir,  what  means  this  martial  array,  if  its  pur 
pose  be  not  to  force  us  to  submission  ?  Can  gentle 
men  assign  any  other  possible  motive  for  it  ?  Has 
Great  Britain  any  enemy  in  this  quarter  of  the 
world,  to  call  for  all  this  accumulation  of  navies 
and  armies  ?  No,  sir,  she  has  none.  They  are 
meant  for  us :  they  can  be  meant  for  no  other. 
They  are  sent  over  to  bind  and  rivet  upon  us  those 
chains,  which  the  British  ministry  have  been  so  long 
forging.  And  what  have  we  to  oppose  to  them  ? 
Shall  we  try  argument  ?  Sir,  we  have  been  trying 
that  for  the  last  ten  years.  Have  we  anything  new 
to  offer  upon  the  subject  ?  Nothing.  We  have  held 
the  subject  up  in  every  light  of  which  it  is  capable  ; 
but  it  has  been  all  in  vain.  Shall  we  resort  to  en 
treaty  and  humble  supplication  ?  What  terms  shall 
we  find,  which  have  not  been  already  exhausted  ? 
Let  us  not,  I  beseech  you,  sir,  deceive  ourselves 
longer.  Sir,  we  have  done  everything  that  could 
be  done,  to  avert  the  storm  which  is  now  coming  on. 
We  have  petitioned — we  have  remonstrated — we 
have  supplicated — we  have  prostrated  ourselves  be 
fore  the  throne,  and  have  implored  its  interposition 
to  arrest  the  tyrannical  hands  of  the  ministry  and 
parliament.  Our  petitions  have  been  slighted  ;  our 
remonstrances  have  produced  additional  violence 
and  insult;  our  supplications  have  been  disre 
garded  ;  and  we  have  been  spurned,  with  contempt, 


264  PATRICK  HENRY. 

from  the  foot  of  the  throne.  In  vain,  after  these 
things,  may  we  indulge  the  fond  hope  of.  peace 
and  reconciliation.  There  is  no  longer  any  room 
for  hope.  If  we  wish  to  be  free — if  we  mean  to 
preserve  inviolate  those  inestimable  privileges  for 
which  we  have  been  so  long  contending — if  we 
mean  not  basely  to  abandon  the  noble  struggle  in 
which  we  have  been  so  long  engaged,  and  which  we 
have  pledged  ourselves  never  to  abandon  until  the 
glorious  object  of  our  contest  shall  be  obtained — we 
must  fight  ! — I  repeat  it,  sir,  we  must  fight ! !  An 
appeal  to  arms  and  to  the  God  of  Hosts,  is  all  that 
is  left  us  ! '  " 

Up  to  this  point  the  orator  exhibited  perfect 
self-restraint.  Judge  TuckePsletter  giving  the  pas 
sages  included  in  the  last  two  paragraphs,  prefaced 
them  by  the  statement : 

"  '  It  was  on  that  occasion  that  I  first  felt  a  full 
impression  of  Mr.  Henry's  powers.  In  vain  should 
I  attempt  to  give  you  any  idea  of  his  speech.  He 
was  qalm  and  collected — touched  upon  the  origin 
and  progress  of  the  dispute  between  Great  Britain, 
and  the  colonies — the  various  conciliatory  measures 
adopted  by  the  latter,  and  the  uniformly  increasing 
tone  of  violence  and  arrogance  on  the  part  of  the 
former.' ' 

He  follows  the  passages  by  the  following  de 
scription  of  the  scene. 

"  '  Imagine  to  yourself  this  speech  delivered  with 
all  the  calm  dignity  of  Cato  of  Utica ;  imagine  to 
yourself  the  Roman  Senate  assembled  in  the  capital 
when  it  was  entered  by  the  profane  Gauls,  who  at 
first  were  awed  by  their  presence  as  if  they  had  en- 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  265 

tered  an  assembly  of  the  gods.  Imagine  that  you 
had  heard  that  Cato  addressing  such  a  Senate.  Im 
agine  that  you  saw  the  handwriting  on  the  wall  of 
Belshazzar's  palace.  Imagine  that  you  had  heard 
a  voice  as  from  heaven  uttering  the  words,  "  We 
must  fight"  as  the  doom  of  Fate,  and  you  may  have 
some  idea  of  the  speaker,  the  assembly  to  whom  he 
addressed  himself,  and  the  auditory,  of  which  I  was 


one.' 


From  this  point,  however,  the  orator's  manner 
deepened  into  an  intensity  of  passion  and  dramatic 
power  which  were  overwhelming.  He  thus  contin 
ued  : 

"  '  They  tell  us,  sir,  that  we  are  weak — unable  to 
cope  with  so  formidable  an  adversary.  But  when 
shall  we  be  stronger  ?  "Will  it  be  the  next  week, 
or  the  next  year  ?  Will  it  be  when  we  are  totally 
disarmed,  and  when  a  British  guard  shall  be  sta 
tioned  in  every  house?  Shall  we  gather  strength 
by  irresolution  and  inaction  ?  Shall  we  acquire 
the  means  of  effectual  resistance  by  lying  supinely 
on  our  backs,  and  hugging  the  delusive  phantom  of 
Hope,  until  our  enemies  shall  have  bound  us  hand 
and  foot?  Sir,  we  are  not  weak,  if  we  make  a 
proper  use  of  those  means  which  the  God  of  nature 
hath  placed  in  our  power.  Three  millions  of  people, 
armed  in  the  holy  cause  of  liberty,  and  in  such  a 
country  as  that  which  we  possess,  are  invincible  by 
any  force  which  our  enemy  can  send  against  us. 
Besides,  sir,  we  shall  not  fight  our  battles  alone. 
There  is  a  just  God  who  presides  over  the  destinies 
of  nations ;  and  who  will  raise  up  friends  to  fight 
our  battles  for  us.  The  battle,  sir,  is  not  to  the 
strong  alone ;  it  is  to  the  vigilant,  the  active,  the 
brave.  Besides,  sir,  we  have  no  election.  If  we 
were  base  enough  to  desire  it,  it  is  now  too  late  to 


266  PATRICK   HENRY. 

retire  from  the  contest.  There  is  no  retreat,  but 
in  submission  and  slavery  !  Our  chains  are  forged, 
their  clanking  may  be  heard  on  the  plains  of  Bos 
ton  !  The  war  is  inevitable  —  and  let  it  come  !  !  I 
repeat  it,  sir,  let  it  come  !  !  ! 

"  i  It  is  in  vain,  sir,  to  extenuate  the  matter.  Gen 
tlemen  may  cry,  peace,  peace,  —  but  there  is  no  peace. 
The  war  is  actually  begun  !  The  next  gale  that 
sweeps  from  the  north  will  bring  to  our  ears  the 
clash  of  resounding  arms  !  Our  brethren  are  al 
ready  in  the  field  !  W  hy  stand  we  here  idle  ?  What 
is  it  that  gentlemen  wish  ?  what  would  they  have  ? 
Is  life  so  dear,  or  peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased 
at  the  price  of  chains  and  slavery?  Forbid  it, 
Almighty  God  !  I  know  not  what  course  others 
may  take;  but  as,  for  me/'^'iooU 

re 


voice  swelled  to  its  boldest  note  of   exclama- 
'  give  me  liberty,  or  give  me  death  !  ' 


This  report  of  this  wonderful  speech,  which  has 
ham  so  greatly  admired,  and  has  been  treasured  in 
tW  memory  of  so  many  American  youths,  has  not 
passed  without  challenge.  It  is  most  gratifying, 
however,  to  find  so  judicious  and  careful  a  writer 
as  Dr.  Moses  Coit  Tyler  coming  to  the  conclusion, 
after  examining  the  evidence,  that  "  Wilt's  version 
certainly  gives  .the  substance  of  the  speech  as  actu 
ally  made  by  Patrick  Henry  ;  and  for  the  form  of  it 

.  .  it  is  probably  far  more  accurate  and  authen 
tic  than  are  most  of  the  famous  speeches  attributed 
to  public  characters  before  reporters'  galleries  were 
opened,  and  before  the  art  of  reporting  was  brought 
to  its  present  perfection."  * 

1  Tyler's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  133. 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  267 

Dr.  Tyler  states,  on  the  authority  of  a  manuscript 
of  Kev.  Edward  Fontaine,  "  that  John  Koane,  in 
1834,  verified  the  correctness  of  the  speech  as  it  was 
written  by  Judge  Tyler  for  Mr.  Wirt."  To  this 
may  be  added,  that  among  the  papers  of  Mr.  Wirt, 
sent  the  author  by  his  son,  Dr.  William  Wirt,  are 
found  some  unsigned  notes  on  his  Life  of  Mr. 
Henry,  written  by  one  who  states  that  he  was  pres 
ent  in  this  convention.  While  he  criticises  in  some 
respects  Mr.  Wirt's  statement  of  the  arguments  used 
by  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Henry's  motion,  he  has 
not  a  word  to  say  in  reference  to  Mr.  Wirt's  re 
port  of  Mr.  Henry's  speech,  and  thus  bears  testi 
mony  to  its  correctness.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
Mr.  Jefferson,  who  revised  Mr.  Wirt's  manuscript 
and  advised  its  publication.1  So  deeply  had  this 
speech  impressed  itself  on  the  minds  of  the  hearers 
that  wherever  Mr.  Wirt  found  one  living  he  was 
enabled  to  gather  some  part  of  it.  This  is  shown 
by  the  traditional  descriptions  of  it  which  have 
come  down  through  other  sources.  Mr.  Henry  Ste 
phens  Kandall,  in  his  "  Life  of  Jefferson,"  has  pre 
served  one  of  these  traditions,  related  to  him  by 
a  clergyman  who  received  it  from  an  old  Baptist 
clergyman  who  was  one  of  the  auditory.  He  de 
scribed  the  Convention  as  terribly  intent  on  the  sub 
ject  before  them.  He  said  : 

"  Henry  arose  with  an  unearthly  fire  burning  in 
his  eye.  He  commenced  somewhat  calmly — but  the 
smothered  excitement  began  more  and  more  to  play 
upon  his  features  and  thrill  in  the  tones  of  his  voice. 
The  tendons  of  his  neck  stood  out  white  and  rigid 

1  Kennedy's  Life  of  William  Wirt,  i.,  413. 


268  PATRICK  HENRY. 

like  whipcords.  His  voice  rose  louder  and  louder, 
until  the  walls  of  the  building  and  all  within  them 
seemed  to  shake  and  rock  in  its  tremendous  vibra 
tions.  Finally  his  pale  face  and  glaring  eyes  became 
terrible  to  look  upon.  Men  leaned  forward  in  their 
seats  with  their  heads  strained  forward,  their  faces 
pale  and  their  eyes  glaring  like  the  speaker's.  His 
last  exclamation — i  Grive  me  liberty  or  give  me 
death ' — was  like  the  shout  of  the  leader  which 
turns  back  the  rout  of  battle  !  The  old  clergyman 
said,  when  Mr.  Henry  sat  down,  he  (the  auditor) 
felt  sick  with  excitement.  Every  eye  yet  gazed  en 
tranced  on  Henry.  It  seemed  as  if  a  word  from 
him  would  have  led  to  any  wild  explosion  of  vio 
lence.  Men  looked  beside  themselves."  1 

Another  tradition  is  found  in  the  Fontaine  manu 
script,  quoted  by  Dr.  Tyler,  which  is  stated  to  have 
been  taken  from  John  Roane,  who  heard  the  speech. 
Roane  told  Fontaine  that  the  orator's  voice,  coun 
tenance,  and  gestures  gave  irresistible  force  to  his 
words,  which  no  description  could  make  intelligible 
to  one  who  had  never  seen  him  or  heard  him  speak  ; 
but  in  order  to  convey  some  notion  of  the  orator's 
manner,  Roane  described  the  delivery  of  the  closing 
sentences  of  the  speech  : 

"  You  remember,  sir,  the  conclusion  of  the  speech, 
so  often  declaimed  in  various  ways  by  school-boys — 
.  '  Is  life  so  dear,  or  peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased 

at  the  price  of  chains  and  slavery  ?  Forbid  it,  Al 
mighty  God  !  I  know  not  what  course  others  may 
take,  but  as  for  me,  give  me  liberty,  or  give  me 
death  ! '  He  gave  each  of  these  words  a  meaning 
which  is  not  conveyed  by  the  reading  or  delivery  of 
them  in  the  ordinary  way.  When  he  said,  l  Is  life 

1  Randall's  Life  of  Jefferson,  i.,  101-2. 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  269 

so  dear,  or  peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased  at  the 
price  of  chains  and  slavery  ? '  he  stood  in  the  atti 
tude  of  a  condemned  galley  slave,  loaded  with  fet 
ters,  awaiting  his  doom.  His  form  was  bowed  ;  his 
w^rists  were  crossed  ;  his  manacles  were  almost  vis 
ible  as  he  stood  like  an  embodiment  of  helplessness 
and  agony.  After  a  solemn  pause,  he  raised  his 
eyes  and  chained  hands  toward  heaven,  and  prayed, 
in  words  and  tones  which  thrilled  every  heart.  '  For 
bid  it,  Almighty  God ! '  He  then  turned  toward 
the  timid  loyalists  of  the  house,  who  were  quaking 
with  terror  at  the  idea  of  the  consequences  of  par 
ticipating  in  proceedings  which  would  be  visited 
with  the  penalties  of  treason  by  the  British  crown  ; 
and  he  slowly  bent  his  form  yet  nearer  to  the  earth, 
and  said,  1 1  know  not  what  course  others  may  take,' 
and  he  accompanied  the  words  with  his  hands  still 
crossed,  while  he  seemed  to  be  weighed  down  with 
additional  chains.  The  man  appeared  transformed 
into  an  oppressed,  heart-broken,  and  hopeless  felon. 
After  remaining  in  this  posture  of  humiliation  long 
enough  to  impress  the  imagination  with  the  condi 
tion  of  the  colony  under  the  iron  heel  of  military 
despotism,  he  arose  proudly,  and  exclaimed,  i  but  as 
for  me,' — and  the  words  hissed  through  his  clenched 
teeth,  while  his  body  was  thrown  back,  and  every 
muscle  and  tendon  was  strained  against  the  fetters 
which  bound  him,  and  with  his  countenance  dis 
torted  by  agony  and  rage,  he  looked  for  a  moment 
like  Laocoon  in  a  death  struggle  with  coiling  ser 
pents  ;  then  the  loud,  clear,  triumphant  notes, '  give 
me  liberty,'  electrified  the  assembly.  It  was  not  a 
prayer,  but  a  stern  demand,  which  would  submit  to 
no  refusal  or  delay.  The  sound  of  his  voice,  as  he 
spoke  these  memorable  words,  was  like  that  of  a 
Spartan  psean  on  the  field  of  Plateoa ;  and,  as  each 
syllable  of  the  word  l  liberty '  echoed  through  the 
building,  his  fetters  were  shivered ;  his  arms  were 


270  PATRICK   HENRY. 

hurled  apart ;  and  the  links  of  his  chains  were  scat 
tered  to  the  winds.  When  he  spoke  the  word  '  lib 
erty  '  with  an  emphasis  never  given  it  before,  his 
hands  were  open,  and  his  arms  elevated  and  extend 
ed  ;  his  countenance  was  radiant ;  he  stood  erect  and 
defiant ;  while  the  sound  of  his  voice  and  the  sub 
limity  of  his  attitude  made  him  appear  a  magnificent 
incarnation  of  Freedom,  and  expressed  all  that  can 
be  acquired  or  enjoyed  by  nations  and  individuals 
invincible  and  free.  After  a  momentary  pause,  only 
long  enough  to  permit  the  echo  of  the  word  i  lib 
erty  '  to  cease,  he  let  his  left  hand  fall  powerless  to 
his  side,  and  clenched  his  right  hand  firmly,  as  if 
holding  a  dagger  with  the  point  aimed  at  his  breast. 
He  stood  like  a  Roman  Senator  defying  Caesar, 
while  the  unconquerable  spirit  of  Cato  of  Utica 
flashed  from  every  feature  ;  and  he  closed  the  grand 
appeal  with  the  solemn  words  '  or  give  me  death  !  ' 
which  sounded  with  the  awful  cadence  of  a  hero's 
dirge,  fearless  of  death,  and  victorious  in  death  ;  and 
he  suited  the  action  to  the  word  by  a  blow  upon  the 
left  breast  with  the  right  hand  which  seemed  to 
drive  the  dagger  to  the  patriot's  heart." 1 

It  is  related  of  Colonel  Edward  Carrington,  a 
distinguished  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  that  being 
in  the  crowd  on  the  outside,  he  gained  a  position  at 
the  more  northern  of  the  two  windows  then  in  the 
east  end  of  the  church.  Here  he  was  nearly  facing 
Mr.  Henry.  He  was  completely  overpowered  by 
the  orator,  and  exclaimed,  "  Let  me  be  buried  at 
this  spot !  "  This  wish  lasted  during  his  life,  and 
was  respected  at  his  death  in  1810. 

From  these  accounts  of  the  speech,  one  can  well 
understand  that  Thomas  Marshall  gave  utterance  to 

1  Tyler's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  129-132. 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  271 

the  unanimous  verdict  of  all  who  heard  it,  when  he 
described  it  "  as  one  of  the  most  bold,  vehement, 
and  animated  pieces  of  eloquence  that  had  ever  been^ 
delivered." l 

The  committee  that  was  appointed  under  Mr. 
Henry's  resolutions  consisted  of  Patrick  Henry, 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  Ben 
jamin  Harrison,  Lemuel  Riddick,  George  Washing 
ton,  Adam  Stephen,  Andrew  Lewis,  William  Chris 
tian,  Edmund  Pendleton,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and 
Isaac  Lane. 

The  appearance  of  Nicholas,  Harrison,  and  Pen 
dleton  on  the  committee  is  an  indication  how  thor 
oughly  Mr.  Henry  had  carried  the  Convention,  cap 
turing  even  the  principal  of  his  opponents.  Indeed, 
Colonel  Nicholas,  as  soon  as  he  found  that  the  Con 
vention  was  determined  to  arm  and  embody  the  mili 
tia,  moved  to  change  the  system,  and  raise  ten  thou 
sand  regulars  for  the  war,  which  was  lost.2  Mr. 
Jefferson,  in  describing  to  Mr.  Wirt  the  opponents 
of  Mr.  Henry's  motion  said : 

"  These  were  honest  and  able  men,  who  had  be 
gun  the  opposition,  on  the  same  ground,  but  with  a 
moderation  more  adapted  to  their  age  and  experi 
ence.  Subsequent  events  favored  the  bolder  spirits 
of  Henry,  the  Lees,  Pages,  Mason,  etc.,  with  whom 
I  went  in  all  points.  Sensible,  however,  of  the  im 
portance  of  unanimity  among  our  constituents,  al 
though  we  often  wished  to  have  gone  on  faster,  we 
slackened  our  pace,  that  our  less  ardent  colleagues 
might  keep  up  with  us;  and  they,  on  their  part, 
differing  nothing  from  us  in  principle,  quickened 

i  Wirt's  Henry,  142.     He  was  the  father  of  the  Chief  Justice,  and  a 
man  of  great  force  of  intellect.  a  Wirt's  Henry,  143. 


272  PATRICK  HENRY. 

their  gait  somewhat  beyond  that  which  prudence 
might  of  itself,  have  advised,  and  thus  consolidated 
the  phalanx  which  breasted  the  powers  of  Great 
Britain.  By  this  harmony  of  the  bold  with  the 
cautious,  we  advanced,  with  our  constituents,  in  un 
divided  mass,  and  with  fewer  examples  of  separa 
tion  than  perhaps  existed  in  any  other  part  of  the 
union."  l 

On  this  memorable  occasion  Mr.  Henry  had  taken 
a  decisive  step  forward,  and  had  consolidated  the 
ranks  of  the  patriots  as  his  followers.  He  had  led 
the  Virginia  Convention  across  the  Rubicon,  and  in 
preparing  the  colony  for  military  resistance  he  had 
pledged  her  to  inevitable  war. 

The  wisdom  of  Mr.  Henry's  motion  was  demon 
strated  by  the  events  which  had  already  happened  in 
England,  though  not  yet  known  in  America.  The 
House  of  Lords  had  not  only  voted  down,  in  Janu 
ary,  Lord  Chatham's  motion  to  withdraw  the  troops 
from  Boston,  but  when,  nothing  daunted,  he  intro 
duced  on  February  1,  his  bill  for  settling  the  troubles 
in  America,  which  involved  a  repeal  of  the  obnoxious 
Acts  of  Parliament,  and  a  free  grant  of  revenue  by 
the  colonies,  accompanied  with  an  acknowledgment 
of  the  supremacy  of  Parliament,  it  was  dismissed 
after  a  warm  debate  by  a  vote  of  61  to  32.  On 
February  2,  an  address  to  the  King  was  moved  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  in  which  it  was  declared, 
that  "  a  rebellion  at  this  time  actually  exists  in  the 
province  of  Massachusetts  Bay."  In  the  debate 
which  preceded  its  adoption,  it  was  claimed  by 
Colonel  Grant,  who  had  served  in  America,  that  the 
Americans  "  would  not  fight,  they  would  never  dare 

1  Wirt's  Henry,  143-4. 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  273 

face  an  English  army,  and  did  not  possess  any  of  the 
qualifications  necessary  to  make  a  good  soldier,"  and 
the  speaker  ridiculed  their  manners,  their  language, 
and  their  religion.1  On  February  10,  leave  was 
given  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  the  restraint  of  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  the  New  England  colonies.  On 
February  13,  and  15,  measures  were  adopted  in 
the  House,  sitting  as  a  Committee  of  Supply,  for 
the  augmentation  of  the  army  and  navy.  On 
February  20,  Lord  North  unexpectedly  introduced 
his  scheme  for  conciliating  America,  which  provided 
for  permitting  the  colonies  to  raise  in  their  own  way 
the  revenue  which  might  be  required  of  them  by 
the  King  and  Parliament,  but  looked  to  the  continu 
ance  of  all  the  obnoxious  legislation  and  claims  of 
Parliament.2  This  proposal  was  confessed  by  its 
author  to  be  one  which  would  not  be  satisfactory  to 
America,  but  he  expected  that  it  would  divide  the 
colonies,  and  would  unite  England.  Fox  denounced 
the  proposal,  and  declared  that  "  the  Americans  will 
reject  it  with  disdain."  Burke  declared,  "  the  meas 
ure  was  mean  indeed,  yet  not  at  all  conciliatory." 
Chatham  wrote  : 3  "It  is  a  mere  verbiage,  a  most 
puerile  mockery.  Everything  but  justice  will  prove 
vain  to  men  like  the  Americans;  with  principles 
of  right  in  their  minds  and  hearts,  and  with  arms 
in  their  hands  to  assert  those  principles." 

On  March  22,  the  day  before  Mr.  Henry  made 
his  motion  for  arming  the  colony  of  Virginia,  Burke 
introduced  his  resolutions  for  repealing  the  ob 
noxious  legislation  of  Parliament,  and  made  that 
magnificent  speech  in  their  support  which  alone 

1  Parliamentary  History,  xviii.,  226.  2  Idem,  xviii.,  334. 

3  Correspondence,  iv. ,  403. 


18 


274  PATRICK  HENRY. 

would  have  placed  him  among  the  great  orators 
and  statesmen  of  the  world,  but  which  fell  unheeded 
on  the  ears  of  the  overwhelming  majority  which 
supported  the  Ministry. 

Though  acting  in  ignorance  of  these  proceedings, 
the  Virginia  Convention,  under  the  lead  of  Mr. 
Henry,  could  hardly  have  acted  more  wisely  had 
they  been  fully  aware  of  them.  They  adopted  an 
effective  plan  for  arming  and  equipping  the  militia 
of  the  colony,  which  were  requested  to  form  volun 
teer  companies  in  each  county,  the  lower  counties, 
cavalry  companies,  and  the  upper  counties,  infantry ; 
and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  procure  the  nec 
essary  munitions  of  war  for  destitute  counties.  A 
plan  was  adopted  for  the  encouragement  of  arts  and 
manufactures,  reported  by  a  committee  of  which 
Mr.  Henry  was  a  member.  A  continuance  of  con 
tributions  for  the  relief  of  Boston  was  recommended ; 
the  Committee  of  Correspondence  was  directed  to 
procure  authentic  information  whether  New  York 
meant  to  desert  the  union  of  the  colonies;  the 
old  delegation  was  reappointed  for  the  next  Con 
gress,  Mr.  Henry  being  placed  next  to  Washington 
on  it,  and  Jefferson  being  added  as  the  alternate  of 
Peyton  Randolph,  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Bur 
gesses;  thanks  were  voted  to  the  Governor  and 
soldiers  engaged  in  the  late  Indian  War,  and  a 
promise  given  the  latter  that  their  services  should 
be  remunerated. 

Mr.  Henry,  ever  watchful  of  Royal  power,  and 
quick  to  see  the  evil  of  keeping  a  number  of  men  in 
the  colony  dependants  upon  the  Crown,  offered  the 
following  paper,  which  was  adopted,  and  himself, 
Richard  Bland,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Robert  Carter 


ARMING  THE   COLONY.  275 

Nicholas,  and  Edmund  Pendleton  were  appointed 
the  committee. 

"  His  Excellency,  the  Governor,  having  by  procla 
mation  bearing  date  the  21st  day  of  March,  in  the 
present  year,  declared  that  his  Majesty  hath  given  or 
ders,  that  all  vacant  lands  within  this  colony  shall 
be  put  up  in  lots  at  public  sale,  and  that  the  highest 
bidder  for  such  lots  shall  be  the  purchaser  thereof, 
and  shall  hold  the  same,  subject  to  a  reservation  of 
one  half -penny  sterling  per  acre,  by  way  of  annual 
quit-rent,  and  all  mines  of  gold,  silver,  and  precious 
stones;  which  terms  are  an  innovation  on  the  estab 
lished  usage  of  granting  lands  within  this  colony. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  in 
quire  whether  his  Majesty  may,  of  right,  advance 
the  terms  of  granting  lands  in  this  colony,  and 
make  report  thereof  to  the  next  General  Assembly, 
or  Convention ;  and  that  in  the  meantime,  it  be  rec 
ommended  to  all  persons  whatever  to  forbear  pur 
chasing,  or  accepting  grants  of  lands  on  the  condi 
tions  before  mentioned." 

The  body  adjourned  March  27,  after  recommend 
ing  to  the  people  that  they  choose  delegates  to  rep 
resent  them  in  Convention  for  one  year.  On  the 
next  day  there  appeared  a  proclamation  from  the 
Governor,  forbidding,  in  the  name  of  the  King,  the 
appointment  of  delegates  to  the  Continental  Con 
gress.  This  untimely  paper  only  excited  contempt 
for  the  Administration. 

St.  John's  Church,  in  which  this  memorable  Con 
vention  sat,  is  still  standing,  and  is  an  object  of  the 
greatest  interest.  Thousands  visit  it  every  year, 
and  are  shown  the  spot  on  which  Mr.  Henry  stood 
when  he  delivered  his  famous  speech. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

RECLAMATION  OF  THE  GUNPOWDER.— SECOND  CON- 
GEESS.— 1775. 

Seizure  of  the  Gunpowder  at  Williamsburg  by  Governor  Dun- 
more. — March  of  Mr.  Henry  at  the  Head  of  the  Hanover  Volun 
teers  to  Obtain  Satisfaction. — Payment  Made  to  Him  by  Order 
of  the  Governor. — Proclamation  of  the  Governor  Against  Him. 
— He  is  Condemned  by  the  Council,  but  Applauded  by  the 
People  in  County  Meetings. — His  Letter  to  Francis  L.  Lee  on 
the  Subject. — He  is  Escorted  Across  the  Potomac  on  His  Way 
to  Congress. — Mr.  Henry  Looking  to  Independence. — Congress 
of  1775.— New  Members.— Difficulties  Besetting  It.— Deter 
mines  to  Act  on  Defensive. — Rejects  Lord  North's  Proposals. 
— Determines  to  Fortify  the  Hudson  and  Adopt  the  Army  be 
fore  Boston. — Washington  made  Commander-in-Chief. — Other 
Officers. — Measures  of  Congress. — Papers  Issued. — Mr.  Henry 
as  a  Committee  Man. — His  Letter  to  General  Washington. 

THE  spirit  which  Mr.  Henry  infused  into  the  Con 
vention  was  soon  aroused  throughout  the  colony, 
by  an  event  which  was  seized  upon  by  him  and 
made  the  occasion  of  a  military  demonstration 
against  the  Governor,  the  first  overt  act  of  war  in 
Virginia. 

On  October  19,  1774,  Lord  Dartmouth,  in  a  cir 
cular  letter  to  the  Colonial  Governors,  informed 
them  that  the  King,  by  an  order  in  Council,  had  pro 
hibited  the  exportation  from  Great  Britain  of  gun 
powder,  or  any  sort  of  arms  or  ammunition,  and  his 
Lordship  required  the  Governors  to  prevent  the  im 
portation  of  the  prohibited  articles  into  the  several 
colonies.1  Not  content  with  preventing  the  pur- 

J  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  i.,  881. 


RECLAMATION  OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.     277 

chase  by  the  colonies  of  the  munitions  of  war,  the 
next  move  was  to  seize  and  carry  away,  or  destroy, 
the  ammunition  already  in  their  possession.  Ac 
cordingly  General  Gage  sent  an  expedition,  April 
18,  1775,  to  destroy  the  military  stores  collected  at 
the  town  of  Concord  for  the  Colony  of  Massachu 
setts,  which  brought  on  the  battle  of  Lexington ; 
and  Lord  Dunmore,  on  April  20,  caused  Captain 
Henry  Collins,  commanding  the  schooner  Magdalen 
lying  at  Burwell's  Ferry  on  James  River,  to 
carry  away  during  the  night  twenty  kegs  of  powder 
stored  in  the  public  magazine  at  Williamsburg,  and 
put  it  upon  his  vessel.  When  this  became  known  in 
the  town  early  the  next  morning  it  caused  intense 
excitement  and  great  exasperation.  Many  persons 
armed  themselves,  declaring  their  determination  to 
force  Captain  Collins  to  restore  the  powder.  They 
were  restrained  with  difficulty  by  the  older  and 
cooler  citizens,  and  by  the  Town  Council,  and  were 
assured  that  proper  measures  would  be  taken  to  ef 
fect  a  restoration  of  the  powder  without  bloodshed. 
The  Council  thereupon  addressed  the  Governor  a 
respectful  communication,  stating  that  the  powder 
had  been  stored  in  the  magazine  for  the  protection 
and  security  of  the  colony,  that  there  was  reason 
to  believe  that  some  wicked  and  designing  persons 
had  instilled  the  most  diabolical  notions  into  the 
minds  of  the  slaves,  which  might  lead  to  servile  in 
surrection,  inquiring  why  the  powder  had  been  car 
ried  off  in  such  a  manner,  and  entreating  that  it 
be  immediately  returned.  To  this  the  Governor  re 
turned  a  verbal  answer,  "  that  hearing  of  an  insur 
rection  in  a  neighboring  county,1  he  had  removed 

1  A  false  report  from  the  County  of  Surry. 


278  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  powder  from  the  magazine,  where  he  did  not 
think  it  secure,  to  a  place  of  perfect  security ;  and 
that  upon  his  word  and  honour,  whenever  it  was 
wanted  on  any  insurrection,  it  should  be  deliv 
ered  in  half  an  hour;  that  he  had  removed  it 
in  the  night  time,  to  prevent  alarm,  and  that  Cap 
tain  Collins  had  his  express  command  for  the  part 
he  had  acted ;  that  he  was  surprised  to  hear  that 
the  people  were  under  arms  on  this  occasion,  and 
that  he  should  not  think  it  prudent  to  put  powder 
into  their  hands  in  such  a  situation."  This  disin 
genuous  reply  was  accepted  as  a  promise  to  return 
the  powder  in  case  it  was  needed,  and  through 
the  exertions  of  Peyton  Randolph,  Robert  C. 
Nicholas,  and  other  citizens  of  influence,  the  peo 
ple  were  quieted.  The  next  day  the  Governor 
sent  word  to  the  gentlemen  who  had  thus  exerted 
themselves  to  quiet  the  people,  that  if  any  injury 
or  insult  was  offered  to  himself,  to  Captain  Foy, 
his  secretary,  or  to  Captain  Collins,  he  would 
declare  freedom  to  the  slaves,  and  reduce  the  city 
of  Williamsburg  to  ashes.  This  bluster  was  par 
ticularly  exasperating,  as  both  Foy  and  Collins  had 
constantly  appeared  in  Williamsburg  without  the 
slightest  disrespect  having  been  shown  them.  In 
formation  of  these  matters  spread  rapidly  through 
the  colony,  and  aroused  the  people  to  a  high  pitch 
of  excitement. 

A  large  body  of  men  from  the  surrounding  coun 
ties  met  at  Fredericksburg  with  arms  in  their  hands, 
and,  on  the  summons  of  Mr.  Henry,  the  Hanover 
Volunteers  and  the  County  Committee  met  at  New 
Castle.  These  assemblies  sent  messengers  to  Will 
iamsburg,  who  arrived  on  the  26th,  offering  assist- 


RECLAMATION   OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.      279 

ance.  They  were  informed  that  everything  was 
quiet,  and  brought  back  letters  next  day  from 
Peyton  Randolph,  on  behalf  of  the  corporation, 
stating  that  the  Governor's  honor  was  pledged  to 
return  the  gunpowder,  though  he  had  not  fixed 
the  time,  deploring  a  conflict  of  arms,  and  advising 
that  matters  be  quieted  for  the  present.1  The  men 
at  Fredericksburg  had  sought  the  advice  of  Colo 
nel  Washington,  and  he  seems  to  have  advised 
against  marching  to  Williamsburg.2  They  there 
upon  dispersed  after  adopting  very  strong  reso 
lutions.  In  the  meanwhile,  news  of  the  attack  by 
the  British  troops  at  Concord  and  of  the  battle  of 
Lexington  reached  Virginia,  and  was  published  in  a 
supplement  to  the  Virginia  Gazette  of  April  29. 
Mr.  Henry  now  could  have  no  doubt  as  to  the  de 
sign  of  the  Ministry,  and  he  determined  to  strike  a 
blow  at  once  which  would  encourage  the  people, 
and  would  teach  the  Government  the  temper  of  the 
patriots.  Indeed,  when  Mr.  Henry  was  informed 
of  the  act  of  Dunmore  he  at  once  determined  to  use 
it  to  advance  the  patriot  cause,  and  on  his  way  to 
meet  the  County  Committee  he  said  to  his  friends/ 
"  that  it  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  which  would 
arouse  the  people  from  North  to  South.  You  may 
in  vain  mention  to  them  the  duties  upon  tea,  eta 
These  things,  they  will  say,  do  not  affect  them. 
But  tell  them  of  the  robbery  of  the  magazine,  and 
that  the  next  step  will  be  to  disarm  them,  and  they 
will  be  then  ready  to  fly  to  arms  to  defend  them 
selves."  3  Having  obtained  the  sanction  of  the 

1  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  July,  1858,  p.  26. 

2  Sparks's  Washington,  ii. ,  507-9. 

3  This  was  said  to  Richard  Morris  and  George  Dabney,  two  of  the  Com 
mittee,  the  latter  of  whom  reported  it  to  Mr.  Wirt. 


280  PATRICK  HENRY. 

County  Committee  for  his  enterprise,  on  May  2,  he 
addressed  the  volunteers  assembled  at  New  Castle 
in  an  eloquent  speech,  the  heads  of  which  are  given 
by  Mr.  Wirt,  as  follows : 

"  He  laid  open  the  plan  on  which  the  British 
Ministry  had  fallen  to  reduce  the  colonies  to  subjec 
tion,  by  robbing  them  of  all  the  means  of  defend 
ing  their  rights,  spread  before  their  eyes,  in  colours 
of  vivid  description,  the  fields  of  Lexington  and 
Concord,  still  floating  with  the  blood  of  their  coun 
trymen,  gloriously  shed  in  the  general  cause ;  showed 
them  that  the  recent  plunder  of  the  magazine  in 
Williamsburg  was  nothing  more  than  a  part  of  the 
general  system  of  subjugation;  that  the  moment 
was  now  come  in  which  they  were  called  upon  to 
decide,  whether  they  chose  to  live  free,  and  hand 
down  the  noble  inheritance  to  their  children,  or  to 
become  hewers  of  wood,  and  drawers  of  water  to 
those  lordlings,  who  were  themselves  the  tools  of 
a  corrupt  and  tyrannical  ministry — he  painted  the 
country  in  a  state  of  subjugation,  and  drew  such 
pictures  of  wretched  debasement  and  abject  vassal 
age,  as  filled  their  souls  with  horror  and  indignation 
—on  the  other  hand,  he  carried  them,  by  the  pow 
ers  of  his  eloquence,  to  an  eminence  like  Mount  Pis- 
gah  ;  showed  them  the  land  of  promise,  which  was 
to  be  won  by  their  valour,  under  the  support  and 
guidance  of  heaven,  and  sketched  a  vision  of  Amer 
ica  enjoying  the  smiles  of  liberty  and  peace,  the 
rich  productions  of  her  agriculture  waving  on  every 
field,  her  commerce  whitening  every  sea,  in  tints  so 
bright,  so  strong,  so  glowing,  as  set  the  souls  of  his 
hearers  on  fire.  He  had  no  doubt,  he  said,  that  that 
Grod,  who  in  former  ages  had  hardened  Pharaoh's 
heart,  that  he  might  show  forth  his  power  and 

flory  in  the  redemption  of  his  chosen  people,  had, 
or  similar  purposes,  permitted  the  flagrant  outrages 


RECLAMATION  OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.     281 

which  had  occurred  in  Williamsburg,  and  through 
out  the  continent.  It  was  for  them  now  to  deter 
mine,  whether  they  were  worthy  of  this  divine  in 
terference;  whether  they  would  accept  the  high 
boon  now  held  out  to  them  by  heaven — that  if 
they  would,  though  it  might  lead  them  through  a 
sea  of  blood,  they  were  to  remember  that  the  same 
God  whose  power  divided  the  Red  Sea  for  the  de 
liverance  of  Israel,  still  reigned  in  all  his  glory,  un 
changed  and  unchangeable — was  still  the  enemy  of 
the  oppressor,  and  the  friend  of  the  oppressed — 
that  he  would  cover  them  from  their  enemies  by  a 
pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  guide  their  feet  through 
the  night  by  a  pillar  of  fire — that  for  his  own  part, 
he  was  anxious  that  his  native  county  should  dis 
tinguish  itself  in  this  grand  career  of  liberty  and 
glory,  and  snatch  the  noble  prize  which  was  now 
offered  to  their  grasp — that  no  time  was  to  be  lost — 
that  their  enemies  in  this  colony  were  now  few  and 
weak — that  it  would  be  easy  for  them,  by  a  rapid 
and  vigorous  movement,  to  compel  the  restoration 
of  the  powder  which  had  been  carried  off,  or  to 
make  a  reprisal  on  the  King's  revenues  in  the  hands 
of  the  receiver-general,  which  would  fairly  balance 
the  account — that  the  Hanover  volunteers  would 
thus  have  an  opportunity  of  striking  the  first  blow 
in  this  colony,  in  the  great  cause  of  American  lib 
erty,  and  would  cover  themselves  with  never-fading 
laurels." 

The  men  were  inflamed  by  his  speech,  and  elect 
ing  him  their  captain  by  acclamation,  they  de 
clared  their  determination  to  follow  wherever  he 
should  lead.  He  at  once  despatched  Ensign  Parke 
Good  all  with  sixteen  men  to  Laneville,  in  King 
William  County,  the  residence  of  Colonel  Richard 
Corbin,  who  was  acting  as  the  King's  Receiver- Gen 


282  PATRICK   HENRY. 

eral,  with  orders  to  demand  of  him  £330,  as  com 
pensation  for  the  gunpowder,  and  in  case  of  his  re 
fusal,  to  take  him  prisoner,  and  report  at  Doncastle 
Ordinary.  Captain  Henry  at  the  head  of  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  men  then  took  up  the  line  of  march 
to  Williamsburg.  The  news  of  this  bold  movement 
spread  rapidly,  and  volunteers  started  up  on  all  sides 
eager  to  join  his  standard.  The  number  is  said  to 
have  reached  five  thousand. 

The  Governor  had  called  together  the  Council  on 
May  2,  at  the  palace,  fearing  to  trust  himself  in  the 
Council  Chamber,  and  made  them  an  address  in 
justification  of  his  conduct,1  charging  that  the  ex 
citement  in  the  colony  was  due  to  "  headstrong  and 
designing  people,  by  whom  plans  and  schemes  are 
unquestionably  meditated  in  this  colony  for  sub 
verting  the  present,  and  erecting  a  new  form  of  gov 
ernment."  At  his  instance  a  proclamation  was  is 
sued  the  next  day  in  accordance  with  his  address,2 
which  seems  to  have  been  alone  opposed  by  John 
Page,  the  youngest  member  of  the  Council.  It  was 
evident  that  this  was  aimed  at  Captain  Henry, 
whom  the  Governor  now  openly  abused  as  a  rebel, 
and  the  author  of  all  the  existing  disturbances, 
charging  him  with  cowardice  in  not  setting  out 
with  Randolph  and  Pendleton  for  the  Continental 
Congress,3  and  threatening  to  inflict  upon  him  a 
rebel's  punishment.  When  news  reached  Williams- 
burg,  however,  that  Henry  at  the  head  of  an  armed 
force  was  marching  upon  the  city,  the  Governor's 
blustering  gave  way  to  terror.  He  armed  the  In 
dian  hostages  and  his  slaves,  planted  cannon  at  the 

1  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  ii. ,  464.  2  Idem,  465. 

3  It  was  believed  he  had  planned  to  arrest  all  three  on  their  journey. 


RECLAMATION   OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.      283 

palace,  obtained  from  Captain  Montague  of  the 
Fowey,  man-of-war,  lying  at  York,  a  detachment 
of  sailors  and  marines,  and  urged  the  town  authori 
ties,  in  vain,  to  call  out  the  military  and  resist  Hen 
ry's  entrance.1  He  sent  Lady  Dunmore  and  her 
children  aboard  the  Fowey,  and  would  doubtless 
have  retired  to  that  place  of  safety  himself,2  had  he 
failed  to  arrest  Henry's  march.  In  order  to  do  this 
he  prevailed  on  the  leading  men  of  Williamsburg, 
including  prominent  patriots  who  would  likely  in 
fluence  Henry,  to  send  messenger  after  messenger 
imploring  him  to  desist  from  his  design.  These 
messengers  were  detained  by  Captain  Henry,  while 
he  continued  his  determined  and  orderly  advance. 
Reaching  Doncastle,  sixteen  miles  from  Williams- 
burg,  he  halted  for  Ensign  Goodall,  who  soon  re 
ported  that  Colonel  Corbin  was  absent  from  home, 
and  at  Williamsburg.  Finding  all  other  means  un 
availing  to  ward  off  Henry's  attack,  the  Governor 
sent  Carter  Braxton,  the  son-in-law  of  Colonel  Cor 
bin,  with  an  offer  to  pay  the  amount  demanded; 
and  the  offer  being  submitted  to  the  volunteers,  and 
deemed  satisfactory,  the  amount  was  paid,  and  the 
following  receipt  given : 

"  DONCASTLE'S   ORDINAKY,  NEW  KENT, 
"  May  4,  1775. 

"  Received  from  the  Honourable  Richard  Corbin, 
Esq.,  His  Majesty's  Receiver- General,  £330,  as  a 
compensation  for  the  Gunpowder  lately  taken  out 
of  the  public  Magazine  by  the  Governour's  order ; 
which  money  I  promise  to  convey  to  the  Virginia 

1  Bancroft,  vii.,  277. 

2  Colonel  Samuel  Meredith  stated  in  his  communication  to  Mr.  Wirt 
that  the  Governor  actually  went  aboard. 


284  PATRICK  HENRY. 

Delegates  at  the  General  Congress,  to  be  under  their 
direction  laid  out  in  Gunpowder  for  the  Colony's 
use,  and  to  be  stored  as  they  shall  direct,  until  the 
next  Colony  Convention,  or  General  Assembly,  un 
less  it  shall  be  necessary,  in  the  mean  time  to  use 
the  same  in  defence  of  this  Colony.  It  is  agreed, 
that  in  case  the  next  Convention  shall  determine 
that  any  part  of  the  said  money  ought  to  be  re 
turned  to  His  Majesty's  Receiver-General,  that  the 
same  shall  be  done  accordingly. 

"PATRICK  HENRY,  JUNIOR." 

Captain  Henry  then  sent  by  express  the  following 
letter  to  Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  the  treasurer  of 
the  Colony. 

"  May  4, 1775. 

"  SIR  :  The  affair  of  the  powder  is  now  settled, 
so  as  to  produce  satisfaction  to  me,  and  I  earnestly 
wish  to  the  Colony  in  general.  The  people  here  have 
it  in  charge  from  the  Hanover  Committee,  to  tender 
their  services  to  you  as  a  public  officer,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  escorting  the  public  Treasury  to  any  place 
in  this  Colony,  where  the  money  would  be  judged 
more  safe  than  in  the  City  of  Williamsburg.  The 
reprisal  now  made  by  the  Hanover  Volunteers, 
though  accomplished  in  a  manner  least  liable  to  the 
imputation  of  violent  extremity,  may  possibly  be 
the  cause  of  future  injury  to  the  Treasury.  If  there 
fore  you  apprehend  the  least  danger,  a  sufficient 
guard  is  at  your  service.  I  beg  the  return  of  the 
bearer  may  be  instant,  because  the  men  wish  to 
know  their  destination. 

"  With  great  regard,  I  am,  Sir,  your  most  humble 
servant,  "PATRICK  HENRY,  JUNIOR." 

To  this  an  answer  was  returned  by  Mr.  Nicholas 
importing  "  that  he  had  no  apprehension  of  the  ne- 


RECLAMATION   OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.     285 

cessity  or  propriety  of  the  proffered  service."  At 
the  same  time  information  was  received,  that  the 
citizens  of  Williamsburg  were  in  a  good  measure 
quieted  from  their  late  apprehensions  of  violence  at 
the  hands  of  the  Governor,  and  thereupon  the  volun 
teers  were  dismissed,  and  returned  to  their  homes  to 
await  the  further  direction  of  the  general  Congress, 
or  Colonial  Convention. 

No  sooner  was  the  Governor  informed  that  Cap 
tain  Henry  had  dismissed  his  command,  than  his 
courage  revived,  and  he  issued  the  following  procla 
mation. 

"  Virginia,  to  wit : 

"  Whereas,  I  have  been  informed,  from  undoubted 
authority,  that  a  certain  Patrick  Henry,  of  the 
county  of  Hanover,  and  a  number  of  his  deluded 
followers,  have  taken  up  arms  and  styling  them 
selves  an  Independent  Company,  have  marched  out 
of  their  County,  encamped,  and  put  themselvs  in  a 
posture  for  war,  and  have  written  and  dispatched 
letters  to  divers  parts  of  the  Country,  exciting  the 
people  to  join  in  these  outrageous  and  rebellious 
practices,  to  the  great  terror  of  all  His  Majesty's 
faithful  subjects,  and  in  open  defiance  of  law  and 
government;  and  have  committed  other  acts  of 
violence,  particularly  in  extorting  from  His  Majesty's 
Receiver- General  the  sum  of  Three  Hundred  and 
Thirty  Pounds,  under  pretence  of  replacing  the 
Powder  I  thought  proper  to  order  from  the  Maga 
zine  ;  whence  it  undeniably  appears  that  there  is  no 
longer  the  least  security  for  the  life  or  property  of 
any  man : 

Wherefore,  I  have  thought  proper,  with  the 
advice  of  His  Majesty's  Council,  and  in  His 
Majesty's  name,  to  issue  this  my  Proclamation, 
strictly  charging  all  persons,  upon  their  allegiance, 


286  PATRICK   HENRY. 

not  to  aid,  abet,. or  give  countenance  to  the  said 
Patrick  Henry,  or  any  other  persons  concerned  in 
such  unwarrantable  combinations,  but  on  the  con 
trary  to  oppose  them  and  their  designs  by  every 
means ;  which  designs  must,  otherwise,  inevitably 
involve  the  whole  Country  in  the  most  direful  ca 
lamity,  as  they  will  call  for  the  vengeance  of  of 
fended  Majesty  and  the  insulted  laws  to  be  exerted 
here,  to  vindicate  the  constitutional  authority  of 
Government. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  the  Col 
ony,  at  Williamsburg,  this  6th  day  of  May,  1775, 
and  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  His  Majesty's  reign. 

"  DUNMORE. 

"  God  save  the  King?" 

To  the  Ministry  Dunmore  denounced  Mr.  Henry, 
as  "a  man  of  desperate  circumstances,  who  had 
been  very  active  in  encouraging  disobedience  and 
exciting  a  spirit  of  revolt  among  the  people  for 
many  years  past."  1 

The  Council  at  this  time  consisted  of  Thomas  Nel 
son,  Richard  Corbin,  William  Byrd,  Ralph  Worm- 
ley,  Jr.,  Rev.  John  Camm,  and  John  Page.  The 
latter  in  his  memoir 2  states,  that  having  at  the  pre 
vious  meeting  advised  the  restoration  of  the  powder, 
he  was  never  afterward  summoned  to  attend  the 
meetings.  It  is  probable  that  Nelson,  the  uncle  of 
General  Nelson,  was  also  opposed  to  the  Governor's 
course.  But  the  people  generally  looked  upon  the 
whole  Council  with  suspicion,  and  held  them,  with 
the  Governor,  as  enemies  of  Virginia,  a  feeling 
which  was  greatly  intensified  by  this  proclamation, 
and  by  one  issued  by  the  Council  on  May  15,  ex- 

1  Bancroft,  vii.,  335.  2  Virginia  Historical  Register,  iii.,  149. 


RECLAMATION  OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.      287 

pressing  "  abhorrence  and  detestation  of  that  licen 
tious  and  ungovernable  spirit  that  is  gone  forth,  and 
misleads  the  once  happy  people  of  this  country.7'  l 

Mr.  Henry's  bold  move  was  not  alone  condemned 
by  the  Council.  Some  of  the  leading  men  in 
Williamsburg  and  the  lower  counties  thought  it 
rash  and  ill-advised,  and  calculated  to  precipitate 
the  colony  into  a  war  with  England.2  They  did 
not  see  that  war  was  inevitable,  had,  in  fact,  com 
menced,  and  that  nothing  was  to  be  gained  by  fur 
ther  forbearance.  Fearing  that  this  feeling  might 
cause  an  attack  upon  him  in  the  approaching  Con 
vention,  Mr.  Henry  wrote  the  following  letter  to 
his  personal  friend,  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee,  before 
setting  out  for  Philadelphia. 

"  HANOVER,  May  8,  1775. 

"  DEAR  SIK  :  For  the  several  facts  relative  to 
the  transactions  of  the  Hanover  Volunteers,  who 
marched  in  consequence  of  the  Governor's  conduct 
in  the  affair  of  the  powder,  and  the  reprisal  made  by 
us,  I  refer  you  to  the  public  papers,  which  I  expect 
will  give  a  true  recital  of  that  matter.  I  find  it  is 
now  said  by  those  who  opposed  the  measure  we  took, 
that  the  powder  belonged  to  the  King.  And  it  is 
very  remarkable  the  Governor,  in  his  late  proclama 
tion,  seems  to  rely  upon  that  as  a  principal  fact  on 
which  he  is  to  be  justified.  But  I  rely  on  the  ad 
dress  of  the  city  of  Williamsburg,  and  his  answer  to 
it  also,  to  prove  the  contrary.  Why  does  he  prom 
ise  to  return  it  in  half  an  hour  ?  And  again  what 
powder  was  he  to  return,  or  did  he  take  ?  I  answer 
the  powder  mentioned  in  the  address;  to  wit,  that 

1  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  ii.,  587. 

3  An  able  defence  of  Mr.  Henry  appeared  in  the  public  prints  over  the 
signature  of  "Brutus."     See  Idem,  ii.,  641. 


288  PATRICK  HENRY. 

which  was  provided  for  the  safety  of  the  Colony1, 
and  for  the  loss  of  which  Williamsburg  was  so 
much  alarmed.  But  I  ask,  suppose  it  was  the 
King's,  what  right  had  any  one  to  deposit  it  in  the 
magazine,  built  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  receiv 
ing  such  ammunition  as  was  at  any  time  necessary 
for  our  safety  ?  His  Majesty  can  have  no  right  to 
convert  the  houses,  or  other  conveniences  necessary 
for  our  defence,  into  repositories  for  engines  of  our 
destruction.  So  that  the  presumption  is,  that  the 
powder  being  there  it  was  ours.  It  was  a  trespass 
to  open  that  place  for  the  reception  of  any  other. 
Add  to  this  what  is  contained  in  his  lordship's  an 
swer  referred  to  above,  and  no  doubt  can  remain 
but  that  the  pretence  of  the  Crown  having  a  prop 
erty  in  it  is  a  quibble.  For  the  sake  of  the  public 
tranquility,  as  well  as  of  justice,  I  chose  to  be  active 
in  making  the  reprisal.  And  having  designedly  re 
ferred  to  the  Convention  whether  any  of  the  money 
ought  to  be  returned,  lest  presuming  too  much  might 
be  alleged  against  me,  I  trouble  you,  sir,  with  this, 
to  be  an  advocate  for  the  measure  if  you  think  it 
right.  I  suppose  my  attendance  at  the  Congress 
may  prevent  me  from  being  present  at  the  Conven 
tion,  where  perhaps  an  attempt  may  be  made  to 
condemn  the  measure  and  misrepresent  my  conduct. 
I  trust  that  the  moderation  and  justice  of  the  pro 
ceeding  will  fully  appear  from  a  great  variety  of 
circumstances.  And  that  my  countrymen  will  sup 
port  me  in  it,  especially  when  we  consider  the  hos 
tilities  to  the  Northward  would  have  justified  much 
greater  reprisals,  which  I  chose  to  decline  as  the 
Convention  might  probably  so  soon  meet.  To  the 
collective  body  of  my  country  I  chose  to  submit  my 
conduct,  and  have  to  beg  you  will  excuse  the  trouble 
I  have  given  you  by  this  long  letter.  I  only  mean 
to  beg  your  attention  to  the  subject,  that  you  may 
not  be  surprised  at  some  objections  against  my  pro- 


RECLAMATION  OF  THE  GUNPOWDER.     289 

ceedings,  which  I  fear  will  be  made  by  some  gentle 
men  from  below. 

"  Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  excuse  inaccuracies  ? 
Hurry  obliges  me  to  use  the  pen  of  a  young  man  to 
transcribe.  The  few  reasons  intimated  above  are  in 
deed  unnecessary  to  you,  whose  better  judgment  is 
able  to  inform  me.  You  will  readily  perceive  the 
absurdity  of  the  pretence,  that  the  King  can  have  a 
property  in  anything  distinct  from  his  people,  and 
how  dangerous  is  the  position  that  his  protection 
(for  which  we  have  already  paid  him)  may  be  with 
drawn  at  pleasure.  If  any  doubt  remains  as  to  the 
fitness  of  the  step  I  have  taken,  can  it  lay  over  until 
I  am  heard  ?  I  can  mention  many  facts  which  I 
am  sure  will  abundantly  warrant  what  is  done. 
Wishing  you  every  good  thing,  I  remain  with  senti 
ments  of  the  highest  and  most  perfect  esteem  and 
regard, 

"  Dear  sir, 

"P.  HENRY. 

"  To  FRANCIS  LIGHTPOOT  LEE,  ESQ." 

But  he  was  not  long  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  ver 
dict  of  the  people  upon  his  conduct.  County  after 
county  through  its  Committee  warmly  applauded 
his  course,  his  old  constituents  in  Louisa  leading 
the  way.1  On  May  9,  the  Committee  of  Hanover 
adopted  a  paper  assuming  the  responsibility  of  the 
movement,  carefully  detailing  its  progress  and  re 
sult,  testifying  to  the  orderly  conduct  of  the  volun 
teers,  and  thanking  them  and  "  the  many  volunteers 
of  the  different  counties  who  joined  and  were  march 
ing  "  with  them,  for  their  services.2  Congratulat 
ory  addresses  and  resolutions,  approving  his  con- 

1  See  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  ii.,  529,  et  seq.,  for  these  proceed 
ings.     Those  preserved  in  the  public  prints  were  from  Orange,  Spottsyl- 
vania,  Prince  William,  London,  Lancaster,  Prince  Edward,  and  Fincastle. 

2  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  ii.,  540. 

19 


290  PATRICK  HENRY. 

duct  and  pledging  him  support,  poured  in  upon  Mr. 
Henry  from  all  parts  of  the  colony,  and  when  he 
set  out  on  May  11,  for  the  Continental  Congress, 
his  journey  was  impeded  by  express  riders  bringing 
these  communications,  which  he  was  forced  to  an 
swer.1  His  journey  till  he  crosssed  the  Potomac 
was  thus  described  in  the  public  prints  at  the  time.2 

"  HANOVER,  May  12,  1775. — Yesterday,  Patrick 
Henry,  one  of  the  Delegates  of  this  Colony,  escorted 
by  a  number  of  respectable  young  gentlemen,  Vol 
unteers  from  this  and  King  William  and  Caroline 
Counties,  set  out  to  attend  the  General  Congress. 
They  proceeded  with  him  as  far  as  Mrs.  Hooe's 
Ferry,  on  the  Potomack,  by  whom  they  were  most 
kindly  and  hospitably  entertained  ;  and  also  pro 
vided  with  boats  and  hands  to  cross  the  river.  And 
after  partaking  of  this  lady's  beneficence,  the  bulk 
of  the  company  took  their  leave  of  Mr.  Henry,  salut 
ing  him  with  two  platoons  and  repeated  huzzas.  A 
guard  accompanied  that  worthy  gentleman  to  the 
Maryland  side,  who  saw  him  safely  landed ;  and 
committing  him  to  the  gracious  and  wise  Disposer  of 
all  human  events,  to  guide  and  protect  while  con 
tending  for  a  restitution  of  our  dearest  rights  and 
liberties,  they  wished  him  a  safe  journey,  and  a 
happy  return  to  his  family  and  friends." 

This  escort  was  not  alone  to  do  honor  to  Mr. 
Henry.  The  proclamation  and  private  threats  of 
Dunmore  made  it  certain  that  he  desired  his  arrest, 
and  this  military  escort  was  to  insure  his  safety  till 
he  crossed  the  Potomac. 

At  the  head  of  the  volunteers  from  Hanover,  who 

1  MS.  Letter  to  Mr,  Wirt  from  Nathaniel  Pope. 
*  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  ii.,  541. 


RECLAMATION   OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.     291 

constituted  an  important  part  of  this  escort,  rode 
Mr.  Henry's  intimate  friend,  Parke  Goodall.  To 
him  Mr.  Henry  talked  freely.  He  told  him  that 
there  ought  to  be  at  once  a  confederation  of  all  of 
the  colonies  against  Great  Britain,  and  that  he  was 
satisfied  that  the  Northern  colonies  would  enter 
alone  into  the  impending  war,  if  the  Southern  colo 
nies  were  pusillanimous  enough  to  desert  them. 
But  he  expressed  confidence  that  this  would  never 
be.  He  was  sure  there  would  be  a  general  con 
federation,  and  that  independence  would  be  estab 
lished,  if  not  by  our  own  exertions,  with  the  aid  of 
foreign  powers.1 

Mr.  Henry  was  as  thoroughly  convinced  as  Lord 
Chatham,  that  the  immedicabile  vulnus  had  been 
inflicted  at  Lexington,  and  he  was  satisfied  that  the 
war  must  of  necessity  be  one  for  independence.  But 
he  knew  that  the  measures  of  the  Ministry  had  not 
as  yet  entirely  alienated  the  people  of  America,  nor 
destroyed  all  hope  of  reconciliation.  And  no  great 
leader  was  ever  more  accurate  in  measuring  a  popu 
lar  movement,  or  wise  in  proposing  advanced  meas 
ures  at  the  moment  when  the  people  were  ready  for 
them.  For  the  present,  therefore,  he  was  content 
to  adopt  such  measures  as  would  keep  the  people 
together,  and  to  patiently  wait  till  the  fulness  of 
time  enabled  him  to  strike  the  decisive  blow  for  in 
dependence.  His  calm  demeanor  was  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  impatience  of  his  friend  John 
Adams,  as  displayed  in  his  utterances  in  Congress 
and  in  letters  to  his  friends.2 


1  MS.  Letter  of  Nathaniel  Pope  to  William  Wirt. 
*  See  Letter  to  James  Warren  in  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams  ii 
411. 


292  PATRICK  HENRY. 

Mr.  Henry  took  his  seat  in  Congress  on  May  18. 
No  account  of  the  debates  has  been  preserved,  and 
but  little  is  known  of  their  proceedings  except 
what  is  shown  by  the  JournaL  But  few  new  mem 
bers  appeared  in  the  body ;  among  these,  however, 
were  some  of  consummate  ability.  In  the  New 
York  delegation,  now  representing  a  colony  con 
trolled  by  the  patriots,  was  George  Clinton,  after 
ward  distinguished  as  a  general,  as  Governor  of  New 
York,  and  as  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  by 
two  elections.  In  the  Pennsylvania  delegation  ap 
peared  Benjamin  Franklin,  just  returned  from  his 
residence  in  London,  and  already  famous  in  two 
continents  ;  with  him  was  James  Wilson,  afterward 
distinguished  as  a  judge  of  the  United  States  Su- 
_preme  Court  and  as  a  Law  Professor.  John  Han 
cock,  prominent  by  reason  of  his  great  fortune  and 
devoted  patriotism,  appeared  as  a  delegate  from 
Massachusetts,  and  upon  the  departure  of  Peyton 
Randolph  for  the  Virginia  Assembly  was  made 
President  of  the  Congress.  The  first  representative 
from  Georgia,  Lyman  Hall,  also  appeared,  represent 
ing  the  parish  of  St.  John,  the  forerunner  of  a  full 
delegation  at  the  next  session. 

The  body  had  been  in  session  for  a  week  and  was 
earnestly  considering  the  state  of  America.  On 
assembling  it  had  been  met  by  a  communication 
from  the  Colonial  Agents  in  London,  relating  the 
neglect  of  the  petition  to  the  King,  and  the  harsh 
and  tyrannical  measures  of  Parliament ;  and  by  a 
communication  from  the  Provincial  Congress  of 
Massachusetts,  relating  the  unprovoked  commence 
ment  of  hostilities  at  Lexington  and  Concord,  and 
the  subsequent  investment  of  Boston  by  a  provin- 


RECLAMATION  OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.     293 

cial  army,  commanded  by  General  Artemas  Ward 
of  Massachusetts.  The  members  of  Congress  had 
been  appointed  before  the  commencement  of  hostil 
ities,  and  their  commissions  only  authorized  them  to 
take  measures  for  a  redress  of  grievances  and  for  a 
restoration  of  harmony  with  Great  Britain.  They 
found  themselves  in  the  greatest  embarrassment, 
therefore,  from  a  want  of  power  to  meet  the  exigen 
cies  of  the  hour,  an  embarrassment  increased  by  the 
division  of  sentiment  in  the  body  as  to  the  proper 
course  to  be  pursued  by  the  colonies.  John  Adams, 
with  whom  probably  Samuel  agreed,  urged  that 
they  make  a  virtue  of  necessity,  and  take  up  the 
government  of  the  continent,  raise^t  once  an  army 
and  navy,  and  arrest  the  friends  of  British  govern 
ment  to  be  held  as  hostages  for  the  people  of  Bos 
ton,  and  then  open  negotiations  for  peace  and  re 
conciliation.1  A  party  led  by  John  Jay  and  John 
Dickinson,  on  the  contrary,  insisted  on  strictly  de 
fensive  measures,  and  a  further  effort  at  reconcil 
iation  through  another  petition  to  the  King.3 

On  May  15,  a  communication  was  received  from 
the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  informing  Con 
gress  of  the  expected  arrival  of  British  troops  in 
their  midst,  and  asking  for  advice  as  to  how  they 
should  conduct  themselves.  In  the  debate  which  en 
sued  the  party  led  by  Jay  and  Dickinson  prevailed, 
and  the  people  of  New  York  were  advised  to  act 
strictly  on  the  defensive,  not  to  resist  the  landing  of 
the  troops,  but  to  be  prepared  to  protect  themselves 
from  insult  and  injury.  At  the  same  time  a  com- 

1  See  Letter  to  James  Warren,  July  24,  1775,  Life  and  Works  of  John 
Adams,  ii. ,  411. 

2  Life  of  John  Jay,  i.,  36. 


294  PATRICK  HENRY. 

mittee  was  appointed,  with  Washington  as  its  chair 
man,  to  consider  what  posts  should  be  occupied  in  the 
State  of  New  York  and  with  what  force.  Thus  the 
line  of  policy  to  be  pursued  had  been  determined  on 
by  Congress  before  Mr.  Henry  took  his  seat,  but 
the  current  of  events  soon  swept  them  along  at  a 
more  rapid  rate  than  they  intended,  and  in  adopt 
ing  measures  of  defence  they  became  of  necessity 
active  belligerents. 

Mr.  Henry  found  the  same  disposition  to  follow 
the  lead  of  the  Virginia  delegates  as  formerly.1  It 
became  their  duty  therefore  to  direct  the  swelling 
tide  of  revolution,  and  this  they  did  with  steadiness 
and  caution. 

On  the  day  Mr.  Henry  took  his  seat  intelligence 
was  received  of  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga  with  a 
large  quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition,  by  a  de 
tachment  from  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  led 
by  Colonel  Ethan  Allen.  This  bold  and  aggressive 
movement  could  not  be  condemned,  as  there  was 
evidence  that  the  military  stores  were  intended  for 
use  by  a  force  preparing  to  invade  the  colony  of 
New  York  from  Canada,  and  besides  the  stores  were 
greatly  needed  by  the  colonists.  The  Congress 
therefore  justified  the  act  as  one  of  precaution,  and 
recommended  that  the  cannon  and  stores  be  se 
cured,  but,  with  a  most  conscientious  regard  for  the 
line  of  conduct  they  had  determined  on,  they  added 
to  their  recommendation,  "  that  an  exact  inventory 
be  taken  of  all  such  cannon  and  stores,  in  order  that 
they  may  be  safely  returned  when  the  restoration 
of  the  former  harmony  between  Great  Britain  and 

1  Letter  of  John  Adams  to  Timothy  Pickering,  Life  and  Works  of  John 
Adams,  ii.,  512. 


RECLAMATION  OP  THE  GUNPOWDER.     295 

these  colonies,  so  ardently  wished  for  by  the  latter, 
shall  render  it  prudent  and  consistent  with  the  over 
ruling  law  of  self-preservation." 

For  a  week  Congress  continued  to  debate  in  Com 
mittee  of  the  Whole  the  state  of  America,  before 
coming  to  any  conclusion,  but  on  May  26,  with  Lord 
North's  proposals  before  them  by  a  formal  refer 
ence  of  the  Assembly  of  New  Jersey,  they  re 
counted  the  oppressive  Acts  of  Parliament,  and  the 
commencement  of  hostilities  by  the  Ministry,  and 
unanimously  resolved,  "  that  for  the  purpose  of  se 
curing  and  defending  these  colonies,  and  preserving 
them  in  safety  against  all  attempts  to  carry  the 
said  Acts  into  execution  by  force  of  arms,  these  col 
onies  be  immediately  put  into  a  state  of  defence." 
They  added  to  this  resolve  the  expression  of  an  ar 
dent  wish  for  reconciliation,  and  a  resolution  that 
to  promote  it,  "  an  humble  and  dutiful  petition  be 
presented  to  his  Majesty,"  and  that  it  contain  a  re 
quest  that  negotiations  be  entered  into  to  effect  the 
desired  accommodation.  They  also  recommended 
to  New  York  the  fortification  of  a  post  at  Kings- 
bridge  for  the  protection  of  the  city,  and  of  another 
in  the  Highlands  on  the  Hudson  to  command  the 
navigation  of  the  river,1  and  the  embodiment  of 
three  thousand  troops  to  man  these  and  the  post  on 
Lake  George ;  also  the  arming  and  training  of 
the  militia  of  New  York,  and  the  disposition  of 
troops  within  the  city  for  its  protection;  and  added 
the  following  significant  advice  to  the  Congress  of 
that  colony :  "  To  persevere  the  more  vigorously  in 
preparing  for  their  defence,  as  it  is  very  uncer 
tain  whether  the  earnest  endeavors  of  the  Congress 

1  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  fortification  at  West  Point 


296  PATRICK  HENRY. 

to  accommodate  the  unhappy  differences  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  colonies  by  conciliatory  meas 
ures,  will  be  successful." 

These  resolutions  were  in  fact  a  rejection  of  Lord 
North's  proposals  for  accommodation,  and  a  deter 
mination  to  enter  at  once  upon  the  war  which  might 
be  the  consequence,  but  at  the  same  time  an  offer  to 
treat  for  peace  on  the  condition  of  the  recognition 
of  their  liberties,  a  condition  they  had  but  little 
hope  of  securing.  By  this  action,  therefore,  Con 
gress  declined  peace  on  the  only  terms  which  were 
offered,  or  which  they  expected  would  be  offered, 
and  accepted  war  as  the  alternative. 

In  the  momentous  debate  which  resulted  in 
this  action  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  Mr.  Henry's 
voice  was  heard.  The  bugle  call  to  arms,  which  he 
had  sounded  in  the  Virginia  Convention  only  two 
months  before,  was  most  certainly  repeated  with 
all  the  energy  and  eloquence  of  which  he  was 
capable,  now  that  he  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  rep 
resentatives  of  the  united  colonies.  It  is,  indeed 
a  significant  fact,  that  the  first  utterance  of  the  body 
after  the  day  Mr.  Henry  took  his  seat  was  a  unani 
mous  determination  to  arm  for  the  defence  of  their 
liberties,  a  determination  which  fixed  the  fate  of 
America,  and  assured  her  political  freedom. 

The  Congress  now  went  to  work  industriously  to 
prepare  the  colonies  for  war.  A  committee,  with 
Washington  at  its  head,  was  directed  to  consider 
and  report  immediately  the  ways  and  means  to  sup 
ply  the  colonies  with  ammunition  and  military 
stores.  Its  recommendations  were  acted  on,  and 
as  an  additional  measure,  a  member  from  each  col 
ony  was  selected  to  inquire,  during  recess,  in  the 


RECLAMATION  OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.     297 

several  colonies  after  lead,  and  the  best  method  of 
collecting,  smelting,  and  refining  it,  and  also  the 
cheapest  and  easiest  methods  of  making  salt.  Upon 
this  committee  Mr.  Henry  was  placed  for  Virginia.1 
A  postal  service  was  established,  with  Franklin  as 
the  first  Postmaster-General.  Upon  the  request  of 
the  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts  for  advice 
as  to  taking  up  civil  government,  they  advised  the 
people  to  elect  an  Assembly,  and  the  Assembly  to 
elect  a  Council,  which  together  should  exercise  the 
powers  of  government,  until  a  Governor  of  his  Ma 
jesty's  appointment  would  consent  to  govern  the 
colony  according  to  its  charter. 

The  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts  having 
also  requested  Congress  to  take  the  regulation  and 
direction  of  the  army  investing  Boston,  it  was  de 
termined  after  anxious  consideration  to  comply  with 
the  request.  This  was  a  decided  step  in  advance  of 
the  position  previously  taken  by  the  body,  which 
had  been  to  act  merely  as  an  advisory  body  for 
the  colonies.  It  was  in  fact  to  engage  the  colo 
nies  in  war  with  Great  Britain.  It  required  an  as 
sumption  of  adequate  powers,  and  was  apparently 
an  act  of  the  greatest  rashness.  Great  Britain  was 
one  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe,  having  a  strong 
government,  a  powerful  army  and  navy  thoroughly 
equipped  and  trained,  and  boundless  resources. 
America  had  no  trained  army,  and  no  navy  what 
ever,  and  was  without  munitions  of  war  or  money. 
But  its  greatest  want  was  a  general  government 
with  power  to  concentrate  and  wield  the  resources 
of  the  colonies.  The  Congress  had  not  the  power  to 
enforce  a  single  enactment,  and  was  entirely  depen- 

1  A  striking  tribute  to  his  capacity  for  details. 


298  PATRICK   HENRY. 

dent  on  the  compliance  of  the  several  colonies  with 
their  requisitions.  The  righteousness  of  their  cause, 
the  patriotism  of  the  people,  and  the  favor  of  the 
God  of  battles,  were  the  reliance  of  Congress  in  the 
momentous  struggle  upon  which  they  entered. 
With  a  profound  sense  of  their  dependence  on  "  the 
Great  Governor  of  the  world,"  in  this  crisis  of  their 
affairs,  they  recommended  that  July  20  be  observed 
by  the  people  "  as  a  day  of  public  humiliation,  fast 
ing,  and  prayer."  The  observance  was  general  and 
profound]y  impressive. 

On  June  15,  Mr.  Henry  had  the  supreme  satis 
faction  of  seeing  Washington,  whom  he  had  long 
considered  the  foremost  man  in  America,  chosen  by 
a  unanimous  vote  to  be  the  "  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  forces  raised,  or  to  be  raised,  in  defence  of 
American  liberty."  The  next  day  he  heard  the 
modest  terms  in  which  Washington  accepted  the 
great  trust,  and  displayed  his  disinterested  devotion 
to  the  cause  by  refusing  to  receive  any  compensation 
for  his  services.  How  sincerely  he  distrusted  his 
ability  to  successfully  defend  American  liberty 
against  the  great  odds  arrayed  against  it,  was  pro 
foundly  impressed  on  Mr.  Henry  when  Washington, 
on  the  same  day,  said  to  him  in  the  intimacy 
of  friendship,  and  with  his  eye  glistening  with  a 
tear,  "This  day  will  be  the  commencement  of  the 
decline  of  my  reputation."1  Happily  for  man 
kind,  his  modesty  underestimated  his  abilities,  and 
that  day  was  the  commencement  of  the  more  vigor 
ous  growth  of  a  reputation  which  has  filled  the 
world. 

Artemas  Ward  was  made  the  first  Major- General, 

1  Bancroft,  vii.,  401. 


RECLAMATION  OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.     299 

and  Charles  Lee  the  second.  Lee  was  a  clever  but 
eccentric  British  officer,  who  had  seen  considerable 
service,  and  fancied  himself  neglected  by  his  gov 
ernment.  He  had  bought  property  in  Virginia, 
and  had  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  colonies. 
His  election  was  urged  by  some  of  the  Southern 
members,  among  whom  was  Washington,  and  advo 
cated  by  John  and  Samuel  Adams.  Mr.  Henry 
probably  nominated  him,  as  he  was  appointed  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  to  inform  him  of  his 
election.  Before  accepting  the  commission  tendered 
to  him,  General  Lee  requested  a  conference  with  a 
committee  on  which  each  colony  should  be  repre 
sented  by  a  delegate.  Mr.  Henry  represented  Vir 
ginia  on  this  committee,  and  his  admiration  for  the 
man  he  had  just  aided  in  making  a  Major-General 
in  the  American  army  must  have  been  chilled,  when 
he  found  that  he  had  estimated  his  estate,  and  re 
quired  indemnity  for  any  loss  of  property  he  might 
sustain  by  entering  into  their  service,  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  unselfish  devotion  of  Washington  to 
the  cause  of  his  country. 

Philip  Schuyler  and  Israel  Putnam  were  also 
made  Major-Generals,  and  Horatio  Gates  was  ap 
pointed  Adjutant-General.  Eight  Brigadier-Gen 
erals  were  elected. 

It  was  determined  to  increase  the  army  around 
Boston  by  twelve  companies  of  expert  riflemen,  to 
be  enlisted  for  one  year,  of  which  eight  were  to  be 
raised  in  Pennsylvania,  two  in  Maryland,  and  two 
in  Virginia.  Rules  and  regulations  for  the  army 
were  adopted,  and  the  issue  of  three  millions  of 
dollars  in  paper  money  ordered,  which  the  several 
colonies  were  asked  to  provide  means  to  redeem. 


300  PATRICK  HENRY. 

Of  this  issue  $496,278,  the  largest  quota,  was  as 
signed  to  Virginia. 

It  is  an  interesting  circumstance,  and  one  which 
shows  the  warm  personal  relations  between  the  two 
men,  that  the  first  communication  made  to  Congress 
by  General  Washington  was  through  Mr.  Henry. 
The  Journal  of  June  21,  shows  that  "Mr.  Henry 
informed  the  Congress  that  the  General  had  put 
into  his  hands  sundry  queries  to  which  he  desired 
the  Congress  would  give  an  answer."  Mr.  Henry 
was  one  of  the  committee  of  five  appointed  to  re 
port  the  proper  answers  to  these  queries. 

On  the  same  day  Thomas  Jefferson  appeared  for 
the  first  time  as  a  delegate  from  Virginia,  bringing 
with  him  the  reply  of  her  House  of  Burgesses  to 
Lord  North's  proposals,  of  which  he  was  the  drafts 
man.  On  the  next  day  information  was  received  of 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  as  it  is  commonly  known, 
and  that  the  eminent  patriot  Joseph  Warren  was 
among  the  slain.  His  loss  deeply  moved  the  hearts 
of  the  patriots  throughout  America,  and  Mr.  Henry, 
beholding  its  effect,  exclaimed,  "  A  breach  on  our 
affections  was  needed  to  arouse  the  country  to 
action."  l 

On  July  18,  Congress  recommended  to  the  colo 
nies  to  organize  and  train  their  entire  militia,  con 
sisting  of  males  between  sixteen  and  fifty,  and  to 
provide  sufficient  stores  of  ammunition.  They  at 
the  same  time  recommended  "  to  each  colony  to  ap 
point  a  Committee  of  Safety,  to  superintend  and  di 
rect  all  matters  necessary  for  the  security  and  de 
fence  of  their  respective  colonies,  in  the  recess  of 
their  assemblies  and  conventions." 

Bancroft,  viii.,  30. 


RECLAMATION   OF  THE   GUNPOWDER,     301 

Thus  Congress  soon  realized  the  fact,  announced 
by  Mr.  Henry  at  their  first  meeting,  that  the  royal 
government  was  dissolved,  and  the  colonies  must 
provide  governments  in  its  stead. 

The  relations  of  the  Indians  to  the  colonies,  in  the 
struggle  they  were  now  entering  upon,  was  a  matter 
of  the  utmost  importance.  When  the  King  was  in 
formed  of  the  battles  of  Concord  and  Lexington,  he 
determined  to  increase  his  forces  in  America,  and 
to  engage  the  assistance  of  the  Six  Nations  in  subdu 
ing  his  rebellious  subjects.  He  sent  directly  to  the 
unscrupulous  Guy  Johnson,  the  Indian  agent,  an 
order  to  lose  no  time  in  inducing  them  to  "  take  up 
the  hatchet  against  the  colonists."1  The  matter 
was  brought  to  the  attention  of  Congress  by  the  con 
vention  of  New  York,  and  by  a  petition  from  West 
Augusta  County  in  Virginia.  On  June  16,  a  com 
mittee  of  five  were  appointed,  of  which  Mr.  Henry 
was  a  member,  to  report  what  steps  should  be  taken 
for  securing  and  preserving  the  friendship  of  the  Ind 
ian  nations.  Upon  the  report  of  this  committee  the 
Indian  territory  was  divided  into  three  departments, 
the  northern  to  embrace  the  Six  Nations  and  the 
tribes  to  the  northward,  the  southern  the  Cherokees 
and  the  tribes  to  the  southward,  and  the  middle  the 
tribes  between  the  other  two.  Commissioners  were 
appointed  for  these  departments,  with  power  to 
treat  with  the  Indians  in  order  to  preserve  their 
friendship.  For  the  middle  department  Mr.  Frank 
lin,  Mr.  Henry,  and  Mr.  Wilson  were  unanimously 
elected  commissioners.  Mr.  Henry  also  served  on 
a  committee  to  examine  an  invoice  of  Indian  goods 
offered  to  Congress  by  a  Mr.  Alsop,  and  on  a  com- 

1  Bancroft,  vii.,  349. 


302  PATRICK  HENRY. 

mittee  to  negotiate  with  Rev.  Samuel  Kirkland,  an 
Indian  missionary,  to  secure  his  services  among  the 
Six  Nations,  in  order  to  obtain  their  friendship  or 
neutrality. 

The  appointments  of  Mr.  Henry  on  the  several 
committees  which  have  been  noticed,  demonstrate 
clearly  his  high  standing  in  the  body  as  a  working 
member,  and  that  he  had  shown  himself  as  efficient 
in  action  as  he  was  eloquent  in  speech. 

The  troubles  which  grew  out  of  the  disputed 
boundary  between  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  con 
tinued  to  increase  under  the  violence  of  John  Con 
nolly,  the  unprincipled  agent  of  Lord  Dunmore,  who 
was  anxious  to  embroil  the  two  colonies  in  civil 
strife.  To  prevent  this,  and  to  unite  the  people  on 
the  border  in  the  struggle  between  the  colonies  and 
Great  Britain,  was  the  ardent  wish  of  Mr.  Henry 
and  of  his  associates  in  Congress  from  the  two  colo 
nies.  They  accordingly  united  in  the  following 
patriotic  address.1 

"  To    the  Inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania   and  Vir- 
.  ginia,  on  tlie  west  side  of  Laurel  Hill. 

*' PHILADELPHIA,  July  25,  1775. 

"  FRIENDS  AND  COUNTRYMEN  :  It  gives  us  much 
concern  to  find  that  disturbances  have  arisen,  and 
still  continue,  among  you,  concerning  the  boundaries 
of  your  colonies.  In  the  character  in  which  we 
now  address  you,  it  is  unnecessary  to  inquire  into 
the  origin  of  those  unhappy  disputes,  and  it  would 
be  improper  for  us  to  express  our  approbation  or 
censure  on  either  side;  but  as  representatives  of  two 
of  the  colonies,  united  among  many  others  for  the 

1  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  ii.,  p.  1723. 


RECLAMATION  OF  THE   GUNPOWDER.     303 

defence  of  the  liberties  of  America,  we  think  it  our 
duty  to  remove,  as  far  as  lies  in  our  power,  every 
obstacle  that  may  prevent  her  sons  from  co-oper 
ating,  as  vigorously  as  they  would  wish  to  do,  to 
ward  the  attainment  of  this  great  and  important 
end.  Influenced  solely  by  this  motive,  our  joint 
and  earnest  request  to  you  is,  that  all  animosities 
among  you  as  inhabitants  of  distinct  colonies,  may 
now  give  place  to  generous  and  concurring  efforts 
for  the  preservation  of  everything  that  can  make 
our  common  countiy  dear  to  us. 

"  We  are  fully  persuaded  that  you,  as  well  as  we, 
wish  to  see  your  differences  terminate  in  this  happy 
issue.  For  this  desirable  purpose  we  recommend 
it  to  you  that  all  bodies  of  armed  men,  kept  un 
der  either  province,  be  dismissed,  that  all  those  on 
either  side  who  are  in  confinement,  or  under  bail, 
for  taking  a  part  in  the  contest,  be  discharged,  and 
that  until  the  dispute  be  decided,  every  person  be 
permitted  to  retain  his  possessions  unmolested. 

"  By  observing  these  directions,  the  publick  tran- 
quility  will  be  secured  without  injury  to  the  titles 
on  either  side.  The  period,  we  flatter  ourselves,  will 
soon  arrive  when  this  unfortunate  dispute,  which 
has  produced  much  mischief,  and  as  far  as  we  can 
learn  no  good,  will  be  peaceably  and  constitution 
ally  determined. 

"  We  are  your  friends  and  countrymen, 
"PATRICK  HENRY,  JOHN  DICKINSON, 

"  BENJAMIN  HARRISON,       BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN, 
"RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,     CHARLES  HUMPHREYS, 
"THOMAS  JEFFERSON,          GEORGE  Ross, 
"  JAMES  WILSON." 

During  the  last  days  of  the  session  Dr.  Franklin 
introduced  a  draft  of  articles  of  confederation  to  be 
proposed  to  the  several  colonies. 

Mr.  Henry  had  already  expressed  himself  warmly 


304  PATRICK  HENRY. 

in  favor  of  the  measure,  and  was  its  earnest  advo 
cate  until  it  was  subsequently  adopted.  For  the 
present,  however,  the  hope  of  reconciliation  enter 
tained  by  those  who  urged  the  second  petition  to 
the  King  stood  in  the  way  of  this  important  meas 
ure,  which  was  looked  upon  as  an  act  of  indepen 
dence. 

The  papers  which  emanated  from  this  Congress 
were  marked  by  the  same  ability  and  patriotism 
which  had  distinguished  those  put  forth  by  the  Con 
gress  of  1774.  The  most  important  were  an  address 
"  To  the  Oppressed  Inhabitants  of  Canada,"  written 
by  John  Jay;  "A  Declaration  by  the  Representatives 
of  the  United  Colonies  of  North  America,  now  met 
in  Congress  at  Philadelphia,  setting  forth  the  Causes 
and  Necessity  of  their  Taking  up  Arms,"  and  "  A  Peti 
tion  to  the  King's  most  Excellent  Majesty,"  both  writ 
ten  by  John  Dickinson ;  "  An  Address  to  the  Inhabi 
tants  of  Great  Britain,"  written  by  Richard  Henry 
Lee  ;  "  An  Address  to  the  People  of  Ireland,"  written 
by  William  Livingston ;  and  "  A  Reply  to  the  Reso 
lutions  of  the  House  of  Commons  of  February  20, 
1775,"  known  as  Lord  North's  proposals,  which  was 
written  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  which,  following 
the  paper  adopted  by  the  Virginia  Assembly,  pre 
sented  in  a  masterly  manner  the  reasons  why  the 
colonies  declined  to  accept  those  proposals  as  a  basis 
of  settlement.  In  these  papers  Congress  reiterated 
their  claim  to  the  political  rights  denied  them  by  the 
British  Government,  and  declared  their  determina 
tion  to  maintain  them  at  all  hazards,  but  they  at 
the  same  time  deprecated  the  necessity  which  forced 
them  to  take  up  arms,  and  protested  that  they  did 
not  desire  independence.  The  petition  to  the  King 


RECLAMATION  OF  THE  GUNPOWDER.     305 

was  severely  criticised  by  some,  who  considered  it 
too  humble  in  its  tone.  Its  spirit  was  certainly  in 
marked  contrast  with  that  of  the  petition  of  the  pre 
ceding  Congress.  But  this  was  doubtless  wise,  as 
the  boldness  of  the  first  petition  was  alleged  as  a 
reason  for  its  neglect,  and  the  party  that  proposed 
the  second  petition  desired  to  leave  the  King  with 
out  excuse  if  he  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  this,  their  last 
appeal  for  reconciliation. 

Congress  adjourned  on  August  1,  till  Septem 
ber  5,  and  Mr.  Henry  returned  at  once  to  Virginia. 
On  the  day  before  he  left  Philadelphia  he  addressed 
the  following  graceful  letter  to  General  Washing 
ton,  introducing  to  him  a  gentleman  seeking  military 
service,  and  at  the  same  time  indicating  his  appreci 
ation  of  the  struggle  they  were  entering  upon. 


"  SIR  :  Give  me  Leave  to  recommend  the  Bearer, 
Mr.  Frazer,  to  your  Notice  &  Regard.  He  means 
to  enter  the  American  Camp,  &>  there  to  gain  that 
Experience  of  which  the  general  Cause  may  be 
avail'd.  It  is  my  earnest  wish  that  many  Virgin 
ians  might  see  service.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  in 
the  Fluctuation  of  things  our  Country  may  have  oc 
casion  for  great  military  Exertions.  For  this  Eeason 
I  have  taken  the  Liberty  to  trouble  you  with  this  & 
a  few  Others  of  the  same  Tendency.  The  public 
good  which  you,  Sir,  have  so  eminently  promoted,  is 
my  only  motive.  That  you  may  enjoy  the  protec 
tion  of  Heaven,  &  live  long  &  happy,  is  the  ardent 
Wish  of, 

"  Sir, 

"Yr  mo.  oV  hble  serv1, 

"P.  HENRY  JR. 

"His  Excellency  GrENL  WASHINGTON." 

20 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

COLONEL  OF  FIEST  VIEGINIA  EEGIMENT.— 1775. 

Virginia  Eiflemen  Sent  to  Boston. — Meeting  of  the  Assembly. — 
Difficulties  with  Governor  Dunmore. — His  Flight. — Demand  of 
Hanover  Presbytery  for  Religious  Liberty. — Meeting  of  Third 
Convention. — George  Mason  a  Member. — Troops  Ordered  to 
be  Eaised. — Patrick  Henry  Made  Colonel  of  the  First  Eegi- 
ment  and  Commander  of  Virginia  Forces. — Committee  of  Safety 
Appointed. — Address  of  Convention. — Enthusiastic  Eeception 
of  Colonel  Henry  by  His  Troops. — The  Colonies  Declared  to  be 
in  a  State  of  Eebellion. — War  Upon  Virginia  by  Dunmore. — 
The  Committee  of  Safety  Prevent  Colonel  Henry  from  Taking 
the  Field. — Battle  of  Great  Bridge. — Meeting  of  Elizabeth 
Henry  and  William  Campbell. 

THE  rifle  corps  ordered  by  Congress  was  quickly 
filled  up.  The  whole  twelve  companies  were  raised, 
equipped  and  in  camp  by  August  14.  The  two 
from  Virginia  were  from  the  lower  valley,  and  were 
commanded  by  Captain  Hugh  Stephenson  *  and  Cap 
tain  Daniel  Morgan.  Captain  Stephenson  was  in 
1776  appointed  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  riflemen 
ordered  to  be  raised,  of  which  four  companies  were 
from  Virginia.  He  died  before  taking  command, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Captain  Morgan.2  Daniel 
Morgan,  so  celebrated  afterward  as  a  soldier, 
marched  his  company  from  Frederick  County  to 
Boston,  a  distance  of  six  hundred  miles,  in  three 
weeks.3  He  carried  his  company  afterward  with 

1  In  Executive  Journal  of  October  9,  1778,  there  is  an  order  concerning 
the  extra  pay  allowed  his  company. 

2  Sparks' s  Washington,  iv.,  124. 

3  Writings  of  Washington,  iii.,  100.      Washington  is  said  to  have  been 
greatly  moved  when  he  saw  them  enter  camp. 


" 

UNIVERSITY 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     307 

Montgomery  upon  the  unfortunate  expedition  into 
Canada,  and  won  his  first  distinction  in  that  cam 
paign. 

Events  of  the  greatest  importance  were  taking 
place  in  Virginia  while  Congress  was  in  session, 
and  before  the  day  of  adjournment  arrived  the  Vir 
ginia  delegation  had  become  impatient  to  return  to 
their  homes.1 

Dunmore,  after  having  prorogued  the  Assembly 
a  half  dozen  times  to  prevent  their  meeting,  was 
forced  to  call  them  together  by  the  order  of  the 
Ministry,  to  submit  to  their  consideration  Lord 
North's  proposals,  which  were  styled  by  the  Tories 
"the  Olive  Branch."  The  House  met  June  1,  great 
ly  excited  by  the  commencement  of  hostilities  at 
the  North,  and  in  no  good  humor  with  the  Gov 
ernor.  In  addition  to  his  base  conduct  and  false 
statements  about  the  removal  of  the  powder  from 
the  magazine,  his  letters  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  mis 
representing  the  condition  of  things  in  the  Colony, 
had  been  published  among  the  papers  laid  before 
Parliament,  and  republished  in  Virginia. 

The  first  communications  between  the  Governor 
and  the  House  were  studied  in  their  formal  cour 
tesy,  but  they  ill  concealed  the  mutual  dislike  and 
want  of  confidence  which  existed.  Before  proceed 
ing  to  consider  Lord  North's  proposals,  the  House 
determined  to  investigate  the  conduct  of  the  Gov 
ernor.  They  requested  him  to  inform  them  of  the 
number  of  militia  lately  called  into  service,  and  of 
the  expense  incurred,  and  what  duty  had  been  per 
formed  by  them  since  the  Indian  expedition.  A 

1  Letter  of  Benjamin  Harrison  to  Washington,  July  21,  1775.    See  Am 
erican  Archives,  4th  Series,  ii.,  1698. 


308  PATRICK  HENRY. 

committee  was  also  appointed  to  inspect  the  public 
magazine  and  inquire  into  the  stores  belonging  there. 
The  appointment  of  this  committee  excited  the  an 
ger  of  Lord  Dunmore,  and  when  they  requested  ac 
cess  to  the  magazine,  he  sent  a  rude  message  to  the 
House  concerning  them,  pretending  to  be  ignorant 
of  their  appointment.  To  this  the  House  replied 
with  becoming  dignity,  but  in  a  paper  which  ex 
posed  the  deceit  of  the  Governor.  His  Lordship 
then  thought  it  best  to  inform  the  House  of  his 
reasons  for  removing  the  powder  and  arms  from  the 
magazine.  His  message  claimed  that  the  powder 
had  been  sent  to  the  magazine  from  a  man-of-war, 
and  with  the  arms  belonged  to  the  King,  and  that 
their  removal  was  because  of  the  insecurity  of  the 
building.  Their  return  was  promised  so  soon  as 
the  building  should  be  made  secure. 

On  the  next  day,  which  was  June  7,  his  Lordship 
secretly  removed  with  his  family  to  His  Majesty's 
ship,  the  Fowey,  lying  at  York,  leaving  a  message 
for  the  House,  in  which  he  alleged  that  he  and  his 
family  were  no  longer  safe  in  Williamsburg.  The 
House  assured  him  of  his  safety,  and  requested  his 
return  so  that  the  public  business  could  be  properly 
transacted,  but  his  guilty  conscience  prevented  him 
from  trusting  himself  among  a  people  he  had  so 
greatly  wronged.  From  his  new  quarters  he  sent 
complaining  messages,  demanded  the  acceptance  of 
Lord  North's  proposals,  and  finally  attempted  to 
get  the  House  to  attend  him  on  board  the  ship. 
This  they  declined  to  do,  treating  the  request  as  a 
breach  of  their  privileges.  The  committees  ap 
pointed  to  consider  the  condition  of  the  colony  and 
the  causes  of  the  late  disturbances,  made  reports 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     309 

which  completely  vindicated,  and  upon  abundant 
testimony,  the  past  conduct  of  the  patriots  in  the 
colony,  and  exposed  the  duplicity  of  the  Governor. 
These  papers  were  adopted,  and  make  a  record  which 
fully  justifies  the  colony  in  her  course  in  this  most 
trying  period.  The  House  also  adopted  the  able 
reply  to  Lord  North's  proposals  which  was  prepared 
by  Mr.  Jefferson.  After  repairing  and  placing  a 
guard  at  the  magazine,  they  reminded  the  Governor 
of  his  promise  to  return  the  powder  and  arms  taken 
away,  but  his  refusal  showed  that  his  promise  was 
never  intended  to  be  kept.  His  last  act  during  the 
session  was  the  veto  of  the  bill  to  pay  the  soldiers 
engaged  in  the  late  Indian  war,  on  the  ground  that 
the  money  was  to  be  raised  by  a  duty  on  imported 
slaves.  The  House  finding  that  the  formal  ratifica 
tion  of  the  late  treaty  with  the  Indians  had  never 
been  made  by  the  Governor,  appointed  a  commission 
to  perform  this  duty,  and  on  the  same  day,  June 
24,  adjourned  themselves  to  October  12,  follow 
ing,  as  the  Governor  had  abandoned  his  post  and 
they  could  no  longer  legislate. 

No  quorum  ever  met  thereafter,  and  this  was  the 
last  session  of  a  colonial  legislature  in  Virginia, 
and  the  last  time  a  colonial  Governor  occupied  her 
capital.  Thus  expired  colonial  government  in  Vir 
ginia.  Under  different  charters  it  had  existed  since 
1607,  and  under  it  a  noble  people  had  been  devel 
oped.  It  perished  because  of  its  violations  by  the 
King  whose  duty  it  was  to  maintain  it.  But  it  had 
served  its  purpose,  and  was  soon  to  be  succeeded  by 
a  system  more  perfectly  adapted  to  a  free  people. 

The  great  advance  in  the  popular  apprehension 
of  free  institutions  at  this  period  is  indicated  by  a 


310  PATRICK  HENRY. 

very  remarkable  paper,  adopted  by  Hanover  Presby 
tery  November  11,  1774,  and  presented  to  the  As 
sembly  of  June,  1775.  In  the  year  1772  the  Assem 
bly  had  ordered  to  be  printed  for  circulation  a 
Toleration  Bill  which  was  proposed,  that  the  sense 
of  the  people  upon  it  might  be  had.  The  Presby 
tery,  composed  for  the  most  part  of  the  Scotch-Irish 
settlers  in  the  Colony,  on  behalf  of  themselves  and 
all  other  dissenters,  in  a  paper  of  great  ability,  pro 
tested  against  some  of  the  features  of  the  proposed 
bill  as  restrictive  of  religious  liberty,  and  prayed, 
li  for  that  freedom  in  speaking  and  writing  upon  re 
ligious  subjects,  which  is  allowed  by  law  to  every 
member  of  the  British  Empire  in  civil  affairs,  and 
which  has  long  been  so  friendly  to  the  cause  of  Lib 
erty."  l 

This  is  the  first  distinct  demand  for  religious  lib 
erty  made  at  the  bar  of  the  Assembly  by  any  body 
of  Christians  in  Virginia,  and  was  the  beginning  of 
a  struggle  which  finally  ended  in  the  absolute  di 
vorce  of  Church  and  State,  and  the  establishment  of 
perfect  religious  liberty.  It  prevented  the  passage 
of  the  proposed  bill  against  which  it  was  aimed. 

On  July  17,  following,  the  third  Virginia  Con 
vention  assembled  at  Richmond,  composed  of  mem 
bers  elected  before  the  late  meeting  of  the  Assem 
bly.  Among  them  was  George  Mason,  of  Fairfax, 
elected  in  the  place  of  Washington,  and  now  for  the 
first  time  appearing  in  the  councils  of  the  Colony, 
into  which  he  had  been  forced  by  his  constituents. 
He  at  once  took  rank  among  the  foremost  of  Virginia 
statesmen.  Mr.  Jefferson  has  sketched  him,  as  he 

1  This  interesting  paper  was  printed  in  the  Central  Presbyterian,  Rich 
mond,  Va.,  May  16,  1888. 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     311 

appeared  a  few  years  later,  in  these  striking  words : 
"  A  man  of  the  first  order  of  wisdom  among  those 
who  acted  on  the  theatre  of  the  Revolution,  of  ex 
pansive  mind,  profound  judgment,  cogent  in  argu 
ment,  learned  in  the  lore  of  oar  former  constitution, 
and  earnest  for  the  republican  change  on  democratic 
principles.  His  elocution  was  neither  flowing  nor 
smooth ;  but  his  language  was  strong,  his  manner 
most  impressive,  and  strengthened  by  a  dash  of  bit 
ing  cynicism,  when  provocation  made  it  seasonable." 
James  Madison  pronounced  him  the  ablest  man  in 
debate  he  had  ever  seen.  He  was  of  aristocratic  an 
cestry,  a  wealthy  and  systematic  planter,  devoted  to 
study,  but  indifferent  to  the  temptations  of  political 
ambition,  and  withal  a  man  of  the  purest  character. 
His  appearance  was  striking.  With  an  athletic 
frame,  and  a  grave  but  handsome  face  lighted  up 
by  brilliant  black  eyes,  he  had  a  commanding  pres 
ence  and  lofty  bearing.  When  he  took  his  seat  in 
the  Convention  he  was  forty -nine  years  of  age,  his 
black  hair  was  slightly  frosted,  and  his  appearance 
indicated  a  recent  struggle  with  his  inveterate  en 
emy,  the  gout.  From  their  first  meeting  a  warm 
friendship  existed  between  him  and  Mr.  Henry, 
which  was  never  interrupted,  and  which  was 
strengthened  by  their  agreement  upon  many  of  the 
vital  questions  which  arose  during  their  public  ser 
vice. 

The  Convention  found  the  Governor  not  only  ab 
sent  from  his  post,  but  threatening  war  upon  the 
colony.  They  determined  at  once  to  take  up  the 
reins  of  government,  and  to  place  the  Colony  in 
a  state  of  defence.  Their  acts  were  no  longer  in 
the  form  of  recommendations,  as  formerly,  but  took 


312  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  shape  of  ordinances,  and  were  discussed  and 
passed  with  the  formalities  of  Acts  of  Assembly.  It 
was  determined  to  raise,  and  embody  under  proper 
officers,  a  sufficient  armed  force  for  the  defence  and 
protection  of  the  Colony.  Three  regiments  of  one 
thousand  men  each  were  first  determined  on,  and  in 
addition,  five  companies,  aggregating  four  hundred 
and  twenty-five  men,  to  be  posted  along  the  western 
border.  On  August  5,  the  Convention  entered 
upon  the  election  of  general  officers  for  the  regi 
ments.  Mr.  Henry  had  not  then  returned  from 
Philadelphia,  but  it  was  understood  that  he  desired 
a  military  command.  His  friends  nominated  him 
for  colonel  of  the  first  regiment,  it  having  been  de 
termined  that  this  officer  should  be  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  forces  to  be  raised.  The  opposition 
united  on  Captain  Hugh  Mercer,  of  Fredericksburg, 
who  had  served  with  great  distinction  under  Wash 
ington  in  the  French  and  Indian  War  of  1755.  It 
is  no  wonder  that  men  with  so  much  at  stake  should 
have  hesitated  to  place  in  command  of  their  entire 
forces  a  man  of  no  military  experience,  however 
great  his  abilities  as  a  civilian.  Besides  this  hesita 
tion,  which  Mr.  Henry's  warmest  friends  might  have 
felt,  there  was  still  remaining  in  the  breasts  of  some 
of  the  old  leaders  somewhat  of  the  jealousy  with 
which  they  at  first  regarded  him,  when  in  1765,  per 
saltum,  he  became  the  foremost  man  in  the  Colony. 
The  first  ballot  stood  for  Hugh  Mercer  41,  for  Pat 
rick  Henry  40,  for  Thomas  Nelson  8,  and  for  Will 
iam  Woodford  1. 

The  second  ballot  between  the  two  highest  re 
sulted  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Henry.  Notwith 
standing  the  close  vote,  the  result  was  a  remarkable 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     313 

tribute  to  Mr.  Henry.  Both  Mercer  and  Woodford 
were  officers  of  experience  and  ability,  and  nothing 
but  the  conviction  of  the  majority,  that  the  quali 
ties  which  had  made  Mr.  Henry  a  great  political 
leader  would  make  him  a  great  military  leader 
also,  can  explain  their  action  in  preferring  him  as 
the  cominander-in-chief  of  the  Virginia  forces.1 

Thomas  Nelson  was  then  elected  colonel  of  the 
second,  and  William  Woodford  colonel  of  the  third 
regiment.  Nelson  declined  the  appointment,  and 
Woodford  was  put  in  his  place,  and  it  was  after 
wards  determined  to  raise  only  two  regiments. 

On  August  9,  the  Journal  states  that  "  Patrick 
Henry,  Edmund  Pendleton,  Benjamin  Harrison  and 
Thomas  Jefferson,  Esquires,  appeared  in  Convention 
and  took  their  seats ;  and  the  gentlemen  appointed 
to  represent  their  counties,  during  their  necessary  ab- 

1  A  writer  in  the  public  prints  over  the  signature  of  "  Cato,"  who  evi 
dently  had  not  been  an  advocate  of  Mr.  Henry's  election,  afterward  gave 
the  following  account  of  the  circumstances  attending  it.  (See  American 
Archives,  4th  Series,  vol.  iv. ,  1519.)  "It  was  objected  to  Mr.  Henry, 
that  his  studies  had  been  directed  to  civil  and  not  military  pursuits ; 
that  he  was  totally  unacquainted  with  the  art  of  war,  and  had  no  knowl 
edge  of  military  discipline  ;  and  that  such  a  person  was  very  unfit  to  be 
at  the  head  of  troops  who  were  likely  to  be  engaged  against  a  well  disci 
plined  army,  commanded  by  experienced  and  able  generals.  These  ob 
jections  were  answered  by  one  gentleman,  who  said  that  Mr.  Henry 
solicited  the  appointment,  which  he  supposed  Mr.  Henry  would  not  have 
done  if  he  did  not  think  himself  qualified  to  command.  Mr.  Mercer  was 
objected  to  for  being  a  North-Briton.  In  answer  to  this  objection  it  was 
admitted  that  Mr.  Mercer  was  born  in  Scotland,  but  that  he  came  to 
America  in  his  early  years,  and  had  constantly  resided  in  it  from  his  first 
coming  over  ;  that  his  family  and  all  his  other  connections  were  in  this 
Colony ;  that  he  had  uniformly  distinguished  himself  a  warm  and  firm 
friend  to  the  rights  of  America ;  and  what  was  of  principal  considera 
tion,  that  he  possessed  great  military  as  well  as  literary  abilities.  Mr. 
Nelson  acknowledged  Mr.  Mercer's  military  abilities,  declared  he  would 
not  oppose  his  appointment,  and  hoped  he  himself  would  not  be  voted 
for.  Mr.  Woodford,  who  was  not  at  that  time  of  the  Convention,  spoke 
very  largely  without  doors  in  favor  of  Mr.  Mercer,  declared  he  was  will 
ing  to  serve  under  him,  as  he  knew  him  to  be  a  fine  officer." 


314  PATRICK  HENRY. 

sence  retired."  It  is  probable  that  they  came  from 
Philadelphia  directly  to  Richmond,  taking  a  week  to 
make  the  trip.  Richard  Henry  Lee  did  not  appear 
in  his  seat  till  two  days  later.  The  presence  of  these 
distinguished  men  had  a  happy  effect  upon  the  delib 
erations  of  the  Convention,  which  had  not  been  har 
monious,  and  is  doubtless  alluded  to  in  the  letter  of 
George  Mason  to  General  Washington  of  October 
14,  following,1  in  which  he  writes  :  "I  hinted  to 
you  in  my  last  the  parties  and  factions  which  pre 
vailed  at  Richmond.  I  never  was  in  so  disagreea 
ble  a  situation,  and  almost  dispaired  of  a  cause 
which  I  saw  so  ill  conducted.  During  the  first  part 
of  the  Convention,  parties  ran  so  high  that  we  had 
frequently  no  other  way  of  preventing  improper 
measures,  than  by  procrastination,  urging  the  pre 
vious  question,  and  giving  men  time  to  reflect. 
However,  after  some  weeks,  the  babblers  were  pretty 
well  silenced,  a  few  weighty  members  began  to  take 
the  lead,  several  wholesome  regulations  were  made, 
and,  if  the  Convention  had  continued  to  sit  a  few 
days  longer,  I  think  the  public  safety  would  have 
been  as  well  provided  for,  as  our  present  circum 
stances  permit." 

As  Washington  and  Henry  by  reason  of  their 
military  appointments,  and  Pendleton  by  reason  of 
his  feeble  health,  could  no  longer  serve  in  Congress, 
the  Convention  in  reappointing  the  delegation, 
placed  Thomas  Jefferson,  Thomas  Nelson,  and 
George  Wythe  in  their  stead,  and  when  Richard 
Bland  asked  to  be  excused  on  account  of  his  ad 
vanced  age,  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee  was  put  in  his 
place. 

1  Writings  of  Washington,  iii.,  152. 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     315 

The  flight  of  the  Governor  had  left  the  Colony 
without  executive  authority,  and  the  Convention, 
adopting  the  recommendation  of  Congress,  appointed 
"  a  Committee  of  Safety  for  the  more  effectual  carry 
ing  into  execution  the  several  rules  and  regulations 
established  by  this  Convention  for  the  protection  of 
this  Colony,"  whose  duties  were  defined  by  an  ordi 
nance  reported  by  a  committee  of  which  Mr.  Henry 
was  a  member.  The  men  selected  for  this  impor 
tant  trust  were,  Edmund  Pendleton,  George  Mason, 
John  Page,  Richard  Bland,  Thomas  Ludwell  Lee, 
Paul  Carrington,  Dudley  Digges,  William  Cabell, 
Carter  Braxton,  James  Mercer  and  John  Tabb.1 

Interesting  incidents  of  the  Convention  during  the 
elections  of  the  delegation  to  Congress  and  of  the 
Committee  of  Safety,  are  related  by  George  Mason, 
in  a  letter  to  his  intimate  friend  Martin  Cockburn, 
dated  August  22,  1775.  After  relating  his  recov 
ery  from  a  spell  of  sickness,  he  adds* 

"  I  have  found  my  apprehensions  in  being  sent  to 
this  Convention  but  too  well  verified.  Before  the 
choice  of  delegates  for  the  ensuing  Congress,  I  was 
personally  applied  to  by  more  than  two-thirds  of  the 
members,  insisting  upon  my  serving  at  the  Congress, 
but  by  assuring  them  I  could  not  possibly  attend, 
I  prevailed  on  them  not  to  name  me,  except  about 
twenty  who  would  take  no  excuse.  A  day  or  two 
after,  upon  Colonel  Bland's  resignation,  a  strong 
party  was  formed,  at  the  head  of  which  were  Colonel 
Henry,  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Colonel  Carrington,  for 
sending  me  to  Congress  at  all  events,  laying  it  down  as 
a  rule  that  I  would  not  refuse,  if  ordered  by  my  coun 
try  :  in  consequence  of  this  just  before  the  ballot  I 

1  This  superseded  the  Committee  of  Correspondence. 


316  PATRICK  HENRY. 

was  publicly  called  upon  in  Convention  and  obliged 
to  make  a  public  excuse,  and  give  my  reasons  for 
refusal,  in  doing  which  I  felt  myself  more  distressed 
than  ever  I  was  in  my  life,  especially  when  I  saw 
tears  run  down  the  President's1  cheeks.  I  took 
occasion  at  the  same  time,  to  recommend  Colonel 
Francis  Lee,  who  was  accordingly  chosen  in  the 
place  of  Colonel  Bland.  But  my  getting  clear  of 
this  appointment  has  availed  me  little,  as  I  have 
been  since,  in  spite  of  everything  I  could  do  to  the 
contrary,  put  upon  the  Committee  of  Safety,  which 
is  even  more  inconvenient  and  disagreeable  to  me 
than  going  to  the  Congress.  I  endeavored  to  ex 
cuse  myself,  and  begged  the  Convention  would  per 
mit  me  to  resign,  but  was  answered  by  an  universal 
No." 

On  the  day  after  Mr.  Henry  took  his  seat,  the 
Convention  ordered  the  gunpowder  bought  by  him 
for  the  use  of  the  Colony  to  be  immediately  sent  for ; 
and  at  a  later  day,  the  quantity  of  gunpowder  taken 
out  of  the  magazine  by  Lord  Dunmore  was  ascer 
tained  to  be  fifteen  half -barrels,  and  its  value  to  be 
one  hundred  and  twelve  pounds  ten  shillings,  and 
the  residue  of  the  three  hundred  and  thirty  pounds 
collected  by  Mr.  Henry  of  the  Receiver-General  was 
ordered  to  be  returned  to  him  by  the  treasurer. 

On  August  14,  the  Convention,  on  being  in 
formed  that  Lord  Dunmore  was  meditating  an  at 
tack  upon  Williamsburg,  directed  the  Committee 
for  that  city  to  repel  the  attack  with  the  volunteers, 
who  had  already  assembled  there  in  large  force,  and 
to  call  out  the  militia  if  need  be  in  addition.  Thus 
the  Convention  stood  strictly  on  the  defensive, 
though  under  the  strongest  provocation,  and  finding 

1  Peyton  Randolph. 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     317 

it  difficult  to  restrain  the  ardor  of  the  people. 
Early  in  the  session  the  volunteer  companies  in 
Williamsburg  had  informed  the  body,  that  detach 
ments  had  been  sent  out  to  seize  the  public  moneys  in 
the  hands  of  the  Receiver-General,  naval  officers,  and 
other  collectors  for  the  King,  and  the  Convention  had 
ordered  them  to  desist  from  their  purpose,  and  this 
policy  was  strictly  pursued  in  all  their  ordinances. 
But  the  preparations  for  defence  were  as  complete 
as  the  circumstances  of  the  Colony  permitted. 

Besides  the  regiments  and  battalions  called  out  at 
once,  eight  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty  of  the 
the  militia  were  *  ordered  to  be  enlisted,  officered, 
armed,  and  equipped,  as  minute  men,  and  strictly 
trained  to  proper  discipline ;  and  the  balance  of  the 
militia  were  ordered  to  be  armed,  equipped,  and 
trained,  so  as  to  be  ready  for  service.  Rules  and 
regulations  for  the  government  of  the  army  were 
adopted.  A  manufactory  of  arms  was  ordered  to 
be  established  at  Fredericksburg,  and  measures  were 
taken  to  encourage  the  manufacture  of  ammunition. 
To  meet  the  expense  to  be  incurred,  the  issue  of  pa 
per  money  to  the  extent  of  three  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  pounds  was  ordered,  and  an  annual  tax  im 
posed  for  its  redemption.  Regulations  were  also 
adopted  for  the  election  of  conimitteemen  in  the  sev 
eral  counties  and  corporations,  and  the  election  of 
delegates  to  subsequent  conventions.  Upon  a  me 
morial  from  the  Baptists,  representing  that  many  of 
that  denomination  had  already  enlisted,  and  many 
more  were  ready  to  do  so,  and  asking  the  liberty  of 
preaching  to  the  troops,  the  Convention,  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Henry,  ordered  that  this  privilege  be  given 
to  all  dissenting  clergymen.  Thus  Mr.  Henry  ap- 


318  PATRICK  HENRY. 

peared  in  the  advance  guard  of  the  movement  in 
favor  of  religious  liberty. 

The  Convention  adjourned  August  26,  after 
adopting  unanimously  an  address  setting  forth  the 
cause  of  their  meeting,  and  the  necessity  of  imme 
diately  putting  the  colony  in  a  complete  state  of  de 
fence,  in  order  to  meet  the  threatened  attack  from 
the  armed  vessels  in  their  harbors,  and  from  the  In 
dians  on  their  western  frontier  who  were  being  in 
cited  by  the  English  to  commence  a  savage  warfare, 
and  reiterating  their  allegiance  to  George  III.  as 
their  lawful  and  rightful  king.  This  admirable  ad 
dress  concludes  in  the  following  words  :  "It  re 
mains  a  bounden  duty  on  us  to  commit  our  cause 
to  the  justice  of  that  Supreme  Being  who  ruleth  and 
ordereth  all  human  events  with  unerring  wisdom, 
most  humbly  beseeching  him  to  take  this  colony, 
and  the  whole  continent,  under  his  fatherly  and  di 
vine  protection,  and  that  he  will  be  graciously 
pleased  to  soften  the  hearts  of  all  those  who  medi 
tate  evil  against  our  land,  and  inspire  them  with  the 
purest  sentiments  of  justice,  moderation  and  broth 
erly  affection." 

Upon  the  adjournment  of  the  Convention  Colonel 
Henry  returned  to  his  home  to  arrange  his  domestic 
affairs  before  taking  the  field.  Early  in  the  year 
he  had  experienced  the  heaviest  of  domestic  afflic 
tions  in  the  loss  of  his  estimable  wife.  She  left  six 
children,  all  under  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Their 
names  were  Martha,  Anne,  Elizabeth,  John,  Will 
iam,  and  Edward.  Martha  had  married  John  Fon 
taine,  and  had  taken  charge  of  the  younger  children 
during  her  father's  absences,  and  to  her  they  were 
now  committed. 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     319 

In  less  than  one  month  Colonel  Henry  set  out  for 
his  command,  which  had  been  ordered  to  rendezvous 
at  Williamsburg,  The  intelligence  of  his  appoint 
ment  had  brought  together  a  large  body  of  volun 
teers,  and  there  had  been  no  difficulty  in  filling  the 
two  regiments.  The  men  came  together  in  various 
uniforms,  or  without  uniforms,  and  mostly  armed 
with  their  own  fowling-pieces.  A  company  from 
Culpeper  County  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous. 
They  were  dressed  in  green  hunting-shirts,  with  the 
words  "  Liberty  or  Death  "  in  large  white  letters  on 
their  breasts,  bucktails  in  their  hats,  and  scalping- 
knives  and  tomahawks  in  their  belts.  Their  flag 
displayed  the  significant  device  of  a  coiled  rattle 
snake,  with  the  motto,  "  Don't  tread  on  me."  In  a 
company  from  Fauquier  County  there  appeared  a 
young  lieutenant,  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  who  at 
once  arrested  the  attention  and  excited  the  interest 
of  every  beholder.  He  was  about  six  feet  high, 
straight,  and  rather  slender,  of  dark  complexion, 
with  a  face  nearly  a  circle  in  its  outline,  with  eyes 
dark  to  blackness,  penetrating,  and  beaming  with 
intelligence  and  good-nature,  over  which  an  upright 
forehead,  rather  low,  was  terminated  in  a  horizontal 
line  by  a  mass  of  raven  black  hair  of  unusual  thick 
ness.  No  one  could  doubt  that  the  stripling,  if 
spared,  would  make  his  mark,  but  no  one  dreamed 
that  this  boy-soldier,  Lieutenant  John  Marshall,  was 
destined  to  become  Chief  Justice  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  greatest  of  American  jurists. 

Colonel  Henry  was  received  with  enthusiasm  by 
his  troops,  as  was  chronicled  in  the  Gazette  of  Sep 
tember  23,  1775,  which  noted  his  arrival  in  the  fol 
lowing  manner :  "  Thursday  last  arrived  here  Pat- 


320  PATRICK   HENRY. 

rick  Henry  Esq.  commander-in-chief  of  the  Vir 
ginia  forces.  He  was  met  and  escorted  to  town  by 
the  whole  body  of  volunteers,  who  paid  him  every 
mark  of  respect  and  distinction  in  their  power,  in 
testimony  of  their  approbation  of  so  worthy  a  gen 
tleman  to  the  appointment  of  that  important  trust, 
which  the  convention  has  been  pleased  to  repose  in 
him."  He  chose  for  his  encampment  the  ground 
back  of  the  college,  and  having  formed  the  men  in 
to  two  regiments  the  officers  commenced  drilling 
them  in  company  and  regimental  tactics.  The  con 
vention  had  appointed  William  Christian,  lieuten 
ant-colonel,  and  Francis  Eppes,  major,  to  the  first 
regiment,  and  Charles  Scott,  lieutenant-colonel,  and 
Alexander  Spots  wood,  major,  to  the  second  regi 
ment.  The  appointment  of  Colonel  Christian  was 
doubtless  at  the  request  of  Colonel  Henry,  to  whom 
his  military  experience  and  strong  personal  attach 
ment  made  him  of  the  greatest  value.  A  quorum 
of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  presided  over  by  Ed 
mund  Pendleton,  remained  in  Williamsburg,  and 
controlled  the  organization  and  movements  of  the 
forces. 

The  second  petition  of  the  Continental  Congress  to 
the  King  was  delivered  to  Lord  Dartmouth  on  Au 
gust  21,  by  Governor  Richard  Penn,  who  had  sailed 
as  a  special  messenger  to  carry  it.  The  only  an- 
swer  it  received  was  a  proclamation,  issued  two  days 
afterward,  declaring  the  colonists  in  rebellion,  de 
nouncing  those  within  the  realm  who  sympathized 
with  them,  and  calling  upon  all  officers  and  loyal  sub 
jects  to  use  their  endeavors  to  suppress  the  rebellion, 
and  to  give  full  information  of  all  persons  correspond 
ing  with  the  persons  in  arms  in  America,  that  they 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     321 

might  be  brought  to  condign  punishment.  News  of 
this  proclamation,  and  of  the  hiring  of  ten  thousand 
Hanoverians  to  be  added  to  the  British  forces  in 
America,  reached  Philadelphia  October  31,  and  was 
published  in  the  newspapers  of  the  next  day.  The 
Congress,  then  in  session,  were  relieved  of  all  doubt 
as  to  their  duty  by  this  declaration  of  war,  and  at 
once  adopted  measures  for  its  vigorous  conduct  on 
their  part. 

In  Virginia,  Lord  Dunmore  had  already  entered 
upon  a  most  irritating  system  of  depredations, 
designed  to  drive  the  colony  from  its  defensive 
attitude.  He  had  gathered  a  flotilla,  composed  of 
the  Mercury,  of  twenty-four  guns ;  the  Kingfisher,  of 
sixteen ;  the  Otter,  of  fourteen  ;  and  a  number  of 
smaller  vessels.  With  this  fleet  the  large  portion 
of  the  colony  bordering  on  the  Chesapeake  and  its 
tributaries  was  completely  at  his  mercy,  and  the 
people  were  continually  plundered,  and  their  slaves 
carried  off.  Early  in  September,  Captain  Squire,  of 
the  Otter,  sailing  in  a  tender  on  a  marauding  expe 
dition,  was  caught  in  a  storm  and  driven  on  shore 
upon  Back  River,  near  Hampton.  The  captain  and 
his  men  were  entertained  by  a  Mr.  Finn,  near  by,  to 
whom  they  abandoned  the  vessel  and  stores,  and, 
unwilling  to  trust  themselves  among  a  people  whom 
they  had  injured,  they  made  their  escape  through 
the  woods.  Soon  after,  a  formal  demand  was  made 
by  Captain  Squire  upon  the  people  of  Hampton  for 
a  restitution  of  the  abandoned  vessel  and  stores,  with 
a  threat  against  the  town  in  case  the  demand  was 
not  complied  with.  Information  of  this  threat  was 
at  once  conveyed  to  Williamsburg,  and  the  Commit 
tee  of  Safety  ordered  Captain  James  Innes  with  one 


322  PATRICK   HENRY. 

hundred  men  to  march  for  the  defence  of  the  place. 
The  attack  was  thereupon  deferred,  and  Captain 
Squire  contented  himself  with  seizing  all  vessels  be 
longing  to  Hampton  which  came  in  his  way.  The 
Kingfisher,  stationed  near  Norfolk,  and  the  Otter, 
stationed  near  Newporfs^News,  now  stopped  all  pass 
ing  boats,  and  subjected  the  crews  and  passengers  to 
the  greatest  indignities,  while  the  smaller  vessels 
continued  to  make  marauding  expeditions,  and  were 
especially  troublesome  to  the  people  of  Norfolk  and 
Princess  Anne  Counties. 

Colonel  Henry  was  restive  under  this  condition 
of  affairs.  The  Committee  of  Safety  was  the  execu 
tive  of  the  Colony,  and  had  the  direction  of  the  mili 
tary  force  raised  by  the  Convention.  This  force  was 
being  organized  and  equipped  at  Williamsburg,  and 
was  not  yet  fully  armed,  nor  properly  supplied  with 
ammunition,  and  it  was  important  that  the  capital 
should  be  protected  by  it.  It  was  apparent,  how 
ever,  that  unless  the  people  in  the  vicinity  of  Nor 
folk  were  protected  that  section  of  the  Colony  would 
be  lost,  and  the  danger  was  the  more  imminent  from 
the  fact  that  the  Scotch  merchants  of  Norfolk  were 
Tories,  and  wielded  considerable  influence.  Colonels 
Henry  and  Woodford,  believing  enough  men  could 
be  safely  spared,  urged  upon  the  Committee  the  im 
portance  of  sending  a  force  at  once  to  the  vicinity  of 
Norfolk  which  would  protect  the  inhabitants.  The 
Committee,  after  considerable  hesitation,  yielded  to 
this  advice,  and  on  October  25  the  following  paper 
was  handed  to  Colonel  Henry : 

"  In  committee  at  Williarnsburg  the  24,  October  1775. 

"  The  committee  having  spent  several  days  in  de 
liberating  upon  the  present  state  of  Norfolk  and 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     323 

the  inhabitants  of  the  adjacent  counties  from  the 
various  representations  and  information  given  them 
thereof,  and  the  examination  of  several  witnesses. 
Whereupon  it  appears,  among  other  acts  of  violence, 
that  Lord  Dunmore  and  the  officers  of  the  navy,  not 
only  harboured  divers  slaves  who  resorted  to  them, 
but  had  actually  seized  by  force  one  woman  slave, 
and  various  other  private  property,  and  seized  and 
carried  on  board  the  ships  of  war  several  freemen. 
Having  also  had  evidence  of  the  state  of  the  two 
regiments  and  Culpeper  Battalion,  and  heard  Col. 
Henry,  Col.  Woodf ord,  and  Col.  Lawrence  Taliaf erro 
on  the  subject,  it  is  thereupon,  Resolved,  that  the 
second  regiment  and  the  Culpeper  Battalion  of  min 
ute  men  with  the  officers  belonging  to  each  ought  to 
march  to  the  neighborhood  of  Norfolk  or  Forts- 
mouth,  and  after  reconnoitering  the  ground  and  ex 
amining  all  necessary  circumstances,  the  command 
ing  officer  is  desired  to  form  an  encampment  at  such 
place  as  to  him  shall  seem  most  convenient,  and 
secure  the  same  in  the  best  manner.  That  their 
march  be  as  soon  as  tents  and  all  other  necessaries 
can  be  provided.  Capt.  Mathews's  company  of  min 
ute  men  to  be  retained,  and  the  commanding  officer 
may  call  in  other  minute  men  upon  any  extraordi 
nary  emergency.  It  is  meant  that  such  only  shall 
march  who  have  good  arms,  those  of  the  second 
Regiment  as  have  not  arms  to  remain  at  head 
quarters  till  they  can  be  furnished,  and  then  join 
their  regiment,  as  also  the  absent  companies  of  the 
said  Regiment  as  soon  as  they  shall  come  to  camp. 
If  it  shall  be  found  necessary  hereafter  another 
camp  may  be  formed  in  the  same  neighborhood. 

copy 

JNO.  PEKDLETON  jun.  elk.  com  : 
Safety." 


324  PATRICK  HENRY. 

Before  anything  could  be  done  to  execute  this 
order  Captain  Squire  again  appeared  before  Hampton 
with  an  armed  schooner,  a  sloop,  and  three  tenders, 
with  soldiers  aboard,  and  notified  the  people  that 
he  was  about  to  land  to  barn  the  town.  A  com 
pany  of  regulars  under  Captain  George  Nicholas,1 
from  Elizabeth  City,  and  a  company  of  minute  men 
under  Captain  Lyne,  from  King  and  Queen  county, 
were  now  stationed  in  the  town,  and  these  repulsed 
the  force  under  Captain  Squire  which  attempted  to 
land  on  October  26.  Indications  pointing  to  a  re 
newal  of  the  attack  on  the  next  day,  a  message  was 
sent  at  once  to  Williamsburg,  and  Colonel  Woodf  ord 
was  sent  down  with  Captain  Green's  company  of 
riflemen  from  Culpeper,2  who  arrived  about  8  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  just  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  re 
pulse  of  the  second  attempt  upon  the  town.  The 
British  met  with  some  loss,  but  the  Virginians  had 
not  a  man  wounded.  This  was  the  first  conflict  of 
the  Revolution  on  Virginia  soil ;  and  by  a  curious 
coincidence  it  occurred  at  the  same  place  at  which, 
one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  years  before,  the  first 
conflict  between  the  English  and  Indians  had  taken 
place. 

The  Virginia  troops  behaved  with  the  greatest 
firmness  in  this  affair,  and  their  victory  cheered  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  who  had  become  discouraged 
by  the  unchecked  depredations  of  Lord  Dunmore. 
His  Lordship  was  maddened  by  the  discomfiture  of 

1  The  son  of  the  Treasurer,  and  afterward  greatly  distinguished  as  a 
statesman. 

2  Captain  John  Green  distinguished  himself  afterward  at  Brandywine 
and  Guilford.     He  was  the  father  of  John  W.  Green,  the  distinguished 
judge  of  the  Virginia  Court  of  Appeals,  whose  son,  William  Green,  lately 
dead,  was  one  of  the  most  learned  scholars  and  lawyers  of  his  times,  or 
of  any  times. 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     325 

his  captain,  and  now  fully  developed  Ms  plans  for 
the  destruction  of  the  Colony  he  still  claimed  to 
govern. 

On  November  5,  he  commissioned  the  notorious 
John  Connolly  as  a  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Queen's 
Royal  Rangers,  and  sent  him  on  a  secret  mission  to 
the  Indians  to  incite  them  to  an  attack  upon  the 
western  frontier,  contrary  to  the  stipulations  of  his 
treaty  with  them.  After  stirring  up  a  savage  war, 
this  unscrupulous  agent  was  to  gather  a  force  of 
Canadians  at  Detroit,  and  coming  by  Pittsburg  was 
to  march  to  Alexandria,  where  Lord  Dunmore  was 
to  meet  him,  and  by  strongly  fortifying  that  place 
cut  off  communication  between  the  northern  and 
southern  colonies.  The  capture  of  Connolly,  while 
passing  through  Maryland,  exposed  and  thwarted 
this  scheme.1 

On  November  7,  he  issued  a  proclamation, 
printed  on  board  the  ship  William,  on  a  press  that 
he  had  taken  by  force  from  Norfolk,  declaring 
martial  law  throughout  the  Colony ;  requiring  all 
persons  capable  of  bearing  arms  to  resort  to  his 
Majesty's  standard  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  of 
life  and  property ;  and  declaring  freedom  to  all  in 
dentured  servants,  negroes,  and  others,  appertaining 
to  rebels,  who  would  join  him  for  the  reduction  of 
the  Colony.  This  appeal  was  addressed  to  criminals 
serving  out  their  terms  of  punishment,  and  to  a 
barbarous  race,  many  of  whom  were  fresh  from  the 
wilds  of  Africa,  who  formed  the  majority  of  the 
population  on  tide-water.  This  fiendish  plan  of 
inciting  the  blacks  against  the  whites  and  endanger 
ing  the  home  of  every  planter,  had  been  concocted 

1  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  iv.,  615-17. 


326  PATRICK   HENRY. 

with  General  Gage  and  General  Howe  through  the 
agency  of  Connolly,  and  was  believed  to  have  the 
approbation  of  the  King.  "  I  hope,"  said  Dunmore, 
"  it  will  oblige  the  rebels  to  disperse  to  take  care  of 
their  families  and  property."  *  The  effect  of  this 
proclamation  was  to  unite  the  people  of  Virginia  as 
nothing  else  could  have  done;  men  of  all  ranks 
resenting  "  the  pointing  of  a  dagger  to  their  throats 
through  the  hands  of  their  slaves."  2  In  the  counties 
of  Norfolk  and  Princess  Anne,  which  were  at  his 
mercy,  Dunmore  forced  the  people  to  leave  their 
homes,  or  take  an  oath  abjuring  the  authority  of  the 
Committee,  the  Convention,  and  the  Congress,  and 
declaring  allegiance  to  the  King.  He  now  had  a 
force  consisting  of  two  companies  of  the  14th  Regi 
ment  of  regulars,  from  St.  Augustine,  and  a  body 
of  negroes  and  Tories.  With  these  he  took  up  a 
position  at  Kemp's  Landing,  on  the  east  branch  of 
the  Elizabeth  River,  surprised  and  captured  a  body 
of  minute  men  from  Princess  Anne  under  Colonel 
Hutchings,  and  threatened  Suffolk. 

Colonel  Woodford  marched  from  Williamsburg, 
early  in  November,  with  the  Second  Regiment  and 
a  detachment  of  minute  men,  altogether  estimated  at 
about  seven  hundred  men,  and  being  prevented  by 
the  men-of-war  from  getting  more  than  eight  com 
panies  across  the  river  at  Jamestown,  he  was  forced 
to  march  up  as  high  as  Sandy  Point3  in  order  to 
cross  the  balance  of  his  force.  He  reached  Suffolk 
in  time  to  relieve  it  from  a  threatened  attack,  and 
continuing  his  march,  he  found  the  force  of  Lord 

1  Bancroft,  viii.,  223. 

2  Letter  of  Archibald  Cary,  Southern  Literary  Magazine  for  1858,  p.  186. 

3  The  home  originally  occupied  by  Colonel  Philip  Lightf  oot,  the  ances 
tor  of  General  Henry  Lee. 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     327 

Dunmore  entrenched  at  the  Great  Bridge,  a  struct 
ure  over  the  south  branch  of  the  Elizabeth  River 
about  twelve  miles  from  Norfolk.  Here  on  Decem 
ber  9,  His  Lordship,  deceived  as  to  Woodford's 
strength  by  a  servant  of  Major  Marshall,1  who  had 
deserted,  or  feigned  desertion,  gave  battle  with  some 
two  hundred  regulars  and  three  hundred  negroes 
and  Tories.  He  was  defeated  with  considerable  loss, 
while  the  Virginians,  who  fought  behind  breast 
works,  had  only  one  man  wounded.2 

The  deadly  rifles  of  Captain  Green's  Culpeper 
men,  every  one  of  whom  was  a  marksman,  con 
tributed  greatly  to  this  victory,  as  they  had  done 
to  the  victory  at  Hampton.  The  victors  were  so 
humane  in  their  treatment  of  the  wounded  as  to 
excite  the  admiration  of  the  British  officers,3  who 
now  realized,  despite  the  misrepresentation  of  Dun- 
more,  that  the  Virginians  were  a  brave  and  gener 
ous  people. 

Lord  Dunmore  fell  back  to  Norfolk,  and  Colonel 
Howe  having  joined  Woodford  with  a  regiment  of 
North  Carolina  troops,  his  Lordship  deemed  it 
most  prudent  to  retire  to  his  ships,  leaving  the 
negroes  he  had  induced  to  take  up  arms  to  shift  for 
themselves. 

His  Lordship  did  not  enjoy  his  dominion  on  the 
water  unmolested  however.  Captain  James  Barron, 
of  Hampton,  in  October  had  armed  and  equipped  a 
fast  pilot-boat,  and  was  annoying  greatly  the 
smaller  vessels  of  Dunmore7  s  fleet,  and  capturing  the 

1  Father  of  Lieutenant  Marshall.     Both  were  in  the  battle. 

2  A  return  of  Colonel  Woodford,  December  10,  1775,  puts  his  strength 
at  491  rank  and  tile  fit  for  duty,  besides  179  Carolina  men  just  arrived. 

3  MS.  Letter  of  Colonel  Woodford,  December_10,  1795,  to  the  Conven 
tion. 


328  PATRICK   HENRY. 

unarmed  supply  vessels  which  came  in  his  way. 
The  hostile  fleet  was  thus  forced  to  get  its  supplies 
from  Norfolk  or  its  vicinity.  A  demand  for  these 
from  the  town  having  been  refused,  the  enraged 
Governor,  on  January  1,  1776,  opened  a  heavy 
cannonade  upon  it,  and  set  fire  to  the  houses  nearest 
the  wharf,  by  which  nine-tenths  of  the  town  was 
burned.  It  had  a  thriving  population  of  six  thous 
and,  and  was  the  largest  town  in  the  colony.  Its 
wanton  destruction,  causing  the  exposure  of  its  in 
habitants  in  midwinter,  embittered  the  people  of 
Virginia  more  than  ever  against  the  man  they  had 
now,  learned  to  look  upon  as  their  greatest  enemy. 
But  notwithstanding  the  great  provocation  under 
which  they  labored,  the  true  nobility  of  the  Virgin 
ians  was  shown  in  their  forbearance  to  make  re 
prisals  upon  the  property  of  Lord  Dunmore,  or  of 
the  Tories  living  in  the  Colony.  In  November  the 
Committee  prohibited  any  one  from  making  reprisals 
on  his  property  left  at  the  Palace,  until  the  Conven 
tion  should  determine  what  was  proper ;  and  the 
Convention,  on  December  14,  resolved,  "that  no 
person  be  allowed  to  make  reprisals  on  the  property 
of  Lord  Dunmore  in  this  Colony  for  their  property 
seized  by  him,  or  by  the  navy,  without  the  order  of 
the  Convention."  During  the  same  month  the  Com 
mittee  "  ordered  that  Colonel  Henry  be  at  liberty  to 
give  directions  to  the  keeper  of  the  public  gaol  for 
the  discharge  of  James,  a  mulatto  slave  belonging  to 
Lord  Dunmore/7  The  Convention  also,  by  a  special 
resolution,  protected  the  persons  and  property  of 
British  merchants,  factors,  and  agents,  who  did  not 
take  part  against  the  Colony,  and  allowed  those  who 
exhibited  enmity  to  leave  the  Colony  unmolested. 


COLONEL  OF  FIRST  VIRGINIA  REGIMENT.     329 

The  inhumanity  of  Dunmore  was  signally  rebuked 
by  the  Convention  in  their  kind  treatment  of  some  of 
his  own  countrymen,  who  were  brought  into  great 
distress.  A  ship  from  Cameron,  in  Scotland,  with 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  emigrants  bound  for 
Newbern,  North  Carolina,  was  obliged  to  put  into 
the  port  of  Norfolk  by  reason  of  bad  weather, 
Lord  Dunmore  forced  about  one  hundred  and  sixty 
of  the  men  into  his  service,  and  when  he  evacuated 
the  town  he  took  their  ship,  and  left  the  women 
and  children  to  perish  in  a  strange  land.  The  men 
deserted  him,  and  on  their  appeal  to  the  Convention, 
Colonel  Woodford  was  ordered  to  take  the  whole 
company  under  his  protection,  relieve  their  imme 
diate  wants,  and  aid  them  in  getting  to  their  place 
of  destination. 

Colonel  Henry's  force  remaining  at  Williamsburg 
was  increased  by  several  companies  of  minute  men 
ordered  out  by  the  Committee,  so  that  he  was  en 
abled  to  station  troops  at  the  several  points  liable 
to  attack,  in  any  effort  of  Lord  Dunmore's  to  carry 
out  his  well-known  intention  to  move  upon  the 
capital.  Part  of  his  forces  were  stationed  at  Bur- 
well's  Ferry,  Jamestown,  Hampton,  and  Yorktown, 
while  he  retained  a  company  at  Williamsburg.  By 
this  disposition  of  his  troops  he  had  it  in  his  power 
to  concentrate  the  whole  in  a  few  hours  at  Will 
iamsburg,  or  at  any  point  at  which  Lord  Dunmore 
might  land. 

Colonel  Christian  had  brought  his  wife  with  him 
to  Williamsburg  and  she  took  charge  of  her 
brother's  headquarters.  Soon  their  sister,  Eliza 
beth  Henry,  joined  them  and  was  a  toast  among 
the  young  officers.  She  was  twenty-six  years  old, 


330  PATRICK   HENRY. 

above  medium  height,  with  a  most  attractive  face 
and  imposing  presence.  Both  in  person  and  intel 
lect  she  resembled  her  brother.  She  had  the  same 
fertile  and  vivid  imagination,  the  same  ready  com 
mand  of  language  and  aptness  of  illustration,  the 
same  flexibility  of  voice  and  grace  of  elocution,  and 
the  same  play  of  features  expressive  of  every  phase 
of  feeling. 

Among  those  who  brought  companies  to  Will- 
iamsburg  was  Captain  William  Campbell,  from  the 
Holston  settlement  in  Fincastle  County.  He  was 
of  a  superb  physique,  six  feet  two  inches  high, 
straight  and  soldierly  in  his  bearing,  quiet  and 
polished  in  his  manners,  and  always  deferential  and 
chivalric  toward  women.  He  had  the  fair  com 
plexion  and  blue  eyes  which  betokened  his  Scotch 
descent.  He  had  been  associated  with  Colonel 
Christian  in  the  Dunmore  expedition  against  the 
Indians,  and  was  destined  to  do  his  country  great 
service  in  the  war  upon  which  they  were  entering. 
He  was  welcomed  to  the  society  of  Colonel  Henry's 
family  at  once,  and  it  was  not  long  before  an  attach 
ment  was  formed  between  himself  and  Elizabeth 
Henry,  which  resulted  in  their  marriage  the  ensuing 
spring.  The  only  child  of  this  marriage  was  Sarah 
Buchanan,  who  married  General  Francis  Preston. 
Her  descendants  have  been  remarkable  for  elo 
quence,  the  most  celebrated  among  them  being  her 
oldest  son,  William  Campbell  Preston.  Mrs.  Camp 
bell  afterward  married  General  William  Russell, 
and  by  her  talents  and  practical  piety  became  known 
as  the  Lady  Huntingdon  of  Virginia.1 

J  A  sketch  of  her  life  has  been  published  by  her  grandson,  Col.  Thomas 
L.  Preston. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

CLOSE  OF  MILITAEY  SERVICE— 1776. 

Convention  of  December,  1775. — War  Measures. — Treatment  of 
Colonel  Henry  by  the  Committee  of  Safety. — Colonel  Wood- 
ford  Refuses  to  Report  to  Him. — Scope  of  Colonel  Henry's 
Commission. — The  Question  Left  to  the  Committee  of  Safety. 
— Its  Compromise. — Virginia  Troops  Transferred  to  Congress. 
— New  Commission  Offered  Colonel  Henry,  Lowering  His 
Rank.^He  Refuses  to  Accept  It. — Excitement  Produced  by 
His  Action. — His  Course  Applauded  by  His  Officers  and  Men. 
— Publications  in  the  Gazette. — Pendleton  Blamed. 

THE  Convention  had  assembled  December  1,  1775, 
at  Richmond,  and  adjourned  to  Williamsburg, 
where  it  continued  its  session  till  January  20,  fol 
lowing.  The  body  realized  the  fact  that  the  Colony 
had  been  forced  into  a  bloody  war  by  its  Governor, 
whose  intercepted  correspondence  showed  that  he 
was  asking  for  a  large  force  with  which  to  seize  the 
capital  and  subdue  the  Colony.  An  ordinance  was 
passed  for  raising  and  equipping  seven  additional 
regiments.  Five  hundred  riflemen  were  ordered  to 
be  sent  for  the  protection  of  the  counties  of  Acco- 
mack  and  Northampton,  lying  east  of  the  Chesa 
peake  Bay,  and  the  Committee  of  Safety  was  di 
rected  to  provide  the  armed  vessels  necessary  to 
protect  the  several  rivers  of  the  Colony.  The  Con 
vention  made  a  stinging  reply  to  Lord  Dunmore's 
proclamation  of  November  7,  and  exposed  the 
meanness  and  cruelty  of  his  Lordship's  conduct 
with  an  unsparing  hand. 


332  PATRICK  HENRY. 

On  January  20,  1776,  the  Convention  adopted  a 
resolution,  calling  on  their  delegation  in  Congress  to 
urge  the  opening  of  the  American  ports  to  the  trade 
of  the  world,  except  that  of  Great  Britain,  Ireland, 
and  the  West  Indies.  The  same  day  they  passed 
ordinances  for  punishing  the  enemies  of  America ; 
for  taking  charge  of  the  public  money,  except  the 
King's  quit-rents ;  for  the  election  of  delegates  to 
future  Conventions ;  and  for  regulating  payments  in 
tobacco ;  and  thereupon  adjourned. 

During  the  session  an  interesting  incident  oc 
curred,  which  illustrated  the  promptness  of  Colonel 
Henry  to  repair  to  the  post  of  danger,  and  the 
readiness  of  the  venerable  men  who  composed  the 
body  to  take  up  arms  in  defence  of  the  capital.  In 
the  supplement  of  the  Virginia  Gazette  of  January 
5,  1776,  the  following  account  is  found  : 

"  Yesterday  afternoon  an  express  arrived  from 
York,  with  intelligence  that  two  topmast  vessels, 
and  one  of  a  smaller  size,  had  hove  in  sight,  which 
were  suspected  to  be  two  men  of  war  and  a  tender, 
coming  up  to  cannonade  that  town ;  upon  which 
Capt.  Gibson  with  his  West  Augusta  boys  were 
immediately  ordered  to  reinforce  the  troops  sta 
tioned  there,  and  prevent  any  of  Dunmore's  hell 
hounds  from  landing  to  set  fire  to  the  houses. 
Many  gentlemen  volunteers  likewise  went  from  this 
city  to  assist  their  brethren  of  York ;  and  our 
worthy  delegates  then  sitting  in  convention,  formed 
themselves  under  that  old  intrepid  warrior,  Col. 
Andrew  Lewis,1  for  the  protection  of  the  city. 
Cap*  Gibson  had  marched  but  a  little  distance 
from  town,  when  he  was  met  by  Col.  Henry, 
from  York,  with  the  agreeable  intelligence  that  the 

1  He  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  from  Botetourt. , 


CLOSE   OF   MILITARY   SERVICE.  333 

two  large  vessels  were  one  a  provision  vessel  from 
Cork,  deep  laden  with  beef,  butter,  potatoes  &c., 
the  other  from  the  Grenades  loaded  with  rum, 
sugar  and  several  other  necessaries,  and  the  small 
vessel  the  brave  Cap1  Barren's  carrying  them  up 
the  river  out  of  the  reach  of  the  men  of  war." 

It  has  been  stated  that  there  was  considerable  op 
position  to  the  election  of  Colonel  Henry  as  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  Virginia  forces,  based  upon 
his  want  of  military  experience.  Among  the  oppo 
sition  were  some  of  the  most  prominent  members  of 
the  Convention,  and  of  these  several  became  mem 
bers  of  the  Committee  of  Safety.  Mr.  Pendleton, 
the  president  of  the  Committee,  though  not  present 
when  the  election  was  held,  was  in  full  sympathy 
with  the  opposition.  This  feeling  of  distrust  was 
carried  into  the  Committee,  and  affected  all  their 
subsequent  conduct  in  reference  to  Colonel  Henry's 
command.  After  the  Committee  had  organized  and 
determined  on  the  policy  to  be  pursued,  the  con 
duct  of  affairs  was  left  almost  entirely  to  a  quorum, 
who  were  greatly  influenced  by  the  president. 
George  Mason,  Colonel  Henry's  great  friend,  was 
but  little  with  the  Committee,  and,  owing  to  poor 
health,  did  not  attend  the  Convention  of  December 
1775.1  It  was  not  long  before  this  feeling  of  dis 
trust  was  made  manifest  to  Colonel  Henry,  in  a 
manner  well  calculated  to  wound  him  deeply. 

When  it  was  determined  to  send  a  force  to  the 
vicinity  of  Norfolk  against  Lord  Dunmore,  ColoneJ 
Woodford  was  selected  for  the  expedition  although 
Colonel  Henry  earnestly  desired  the  command,  and 

1  Vide  his  letter  to  Washington  of  April  2,  1776,  American  Archives,  4th 
Series,  v.  760. 


334  PATRICK  HENRY. 

upon  the  attack  at  Hampton,  before  Colonel  Wood- 
ford  had  marched,  he  was  again  preferred  over  his 
ranking  officer,  and  sent  to  conduct  the  defence. 
These  acts  were  unmistakable,  but  as  if  to  leave  no 
doubt  on  the  mind  of  Colonel  Henry  that  the  Com 
mittee  did  not  mean  to  trust  him  with  any  enter 
prise,  on  November  8,  he  was  ordered  to  prepare 
winter  quarters  for  his  regiment  at  Williamsburg.1  It 
had  become  apparent  that  the  troops  of  the  several 
Colonies  would  be  taken  into  Continental  service, 
and  the  Committee  seemed  determined  to  trust  no 
military  operations  to  Colonel  Henry  until  this  was 
done,  when  his  commission  would  be  superseded,  or 
a  superior  officer  would  be  placed  over  him.  While 
smarting  under  this  slight,  he  was  subjected  to  an 
indignity  at  the  hands  of  Colonel  W'oodford,  who 
ceased  to  report  to  him  after  he  was  sent  against 
Lord  Dunmore.  Not  understanding  the  reason  for 
this,  Colonel  Henry  sent  an  express  on  December  6, 
1775,  with  the  following  letter. 

"  On     Virginia    Service. 

"  To    William    Woodford  JEsq.  Colonel  of  the  Sec 
ond  Regiment  of  the   Virginia  Forces. 

"  HEAD  QUARTERS,  Dec.  6th  1775. 

"  SIR  :  Not  hearing  of  any  dispatch  from  you  for  a 
long  time,  I  can  no  longer  forbear  sending  to  know 
your  situation,  and  what  has  occurred.  Every  one, 
as  well  as  myself,  is  vastly  anxious  to  hear  how  all 
stands  with  you.  In  case  you  think  any  thing 
could  be  done  to  aid  and  forward  the  enterprise  you 
have  in  hand,  please  to  write  it.  But  I  wish  to 


MS.  order  of  the  Committee,  with  Colonel  Henry's  papers. 


CLOSE   OF   MILITARY   SERVICE.  335 

know  your  situation  particularly,  with  that  of  the 
enemy,  that  the  whole  may  be  laid  before  the  con 
vention  now  here.  The  number  and  designs  of  the 
enemy,  as  you  collect  it,  might  open  some  prospects 
to  us,  that  might  enable  us  to  form  some  diversion 
in  your  favor.  The  bearer  has  orders  to  lose  no 
time,  and  to  return  with  all  possible  haste.  I  am 
sir,  Your  humble  servant. 

"P.  HENRY  JUN. 

"  P.S.   Cap*  Alexander's  company  is  not  yet  come. 

"COL.  WOODFORD." 

To  this  Colonel  Woodford  made  the  following 
answer, 

'  *  GREAT  BRIDGE,  7th  Dec.  1775. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  received  yours  per  express ;  in  an 
swer  to  which  must  inform  you,  that,  understanding 
you  were  out  of  town,  I  have  not  written  you  before 
last  Monday,  by  the  return  of  the  honourable  the 
convention's  express,  when  I  referred  you  to  my  let 
ter  to  them  for  every  particular  respecting  mine  and 
the  enemy's  situation.  I  wrote  them  again  yester 
day  and  this  morning,  which  no  doubt  they  will 
communicate  to  you,  as  commanding  officer  of  the 
troops  at  Williamsburg.  When  joined,  I  shall  al 
ways  esteem  myself  immediately  under  your  com 
mand,  and  will  obey  accordingly ;  but  when  sent 
to  command  a  separate  and  distinct  body  of  troops, 
under  the  immediate  instruction  of  the  committee  of 
safety — whenever  that  body  or  the  honourable  con 
vention  is  sitting,  I  look  upon  it  as  my  indispensable 
duty  to  address  my  intelligence  to  them,  as  the  su 
preme  power  in  this  colony.  If  I  judge  wrong,  I 
hope  that  honourable  body  will  set  me  right.  I 
would  wish  to  keep  up  the  greatest  harmony  be 
tween  us,  for  the  good  of  the  cause  we  are  engaged 


336  PATRICK   HENRY. 

in  ;  but  cannot  bear  to  be  supposed  to  have  neglected 
my  duty,  when  I  have  done  everything  I  conceived 
to  be  so.  The  enemy  are  strongly  fortified  on  the 
other  side  of  the  bridge,  and  a  great  number  of  ne 
groes  and  tories  with  them ;  my  prisoners  disagree 
as  to  the  numbers.  We  are  situated  here  in  mud 
and  mire,  exposed  to  every  hardship  that  can  be 
conceived,  but  the  want  of  provisions,  of  which  our 
stock  is  but  small,  the  men  suffering  for  shoes ;  and 
if  ever  soldiers  deserved  a  second  blanket  in  any 
service,  they  do  in  this ;  our  stock  of  ammunition 
much  reduced,  no  bullet-moulds  that  were  good  for 
anything  sent  to  run  up  our  lead,  till  those  sent  the 
other  day  by  Mr.  Page.  If  these  necessaries  and 
better  arms  had  been  furnished  in  time  for  this  de 
tachment,  they  might  have  prevented  much  trouble 
and  great  expense  to  this  colony.  Most  of  those 
arms  I  received  the  other  day  from  Williamsburg 
are  rather  to  be  considered  as  lumber,  than  fit  to  be 
put  in  men's  hands,  in  the  face  of  the  enemy  :  with 
much  repair,  some  of  them  will  do  ;  with  those,  and 
what  I  have  taken  from  the  enemy,  hope  to  be  bet 
ter  armed  in  a  few  days.  I  have  written  to  the  con 
vention,  that  it  was  my  opinion  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  first  regiment  ought  immediately  to 
march  to  the  scene  of  action  with  some  cannon,  and 
a  supply  of  ammunition,  and  every  other  necessary 
for  war  that  the  colony  can  muster,  that  a  stop  may 
be  put  to  the  enemy's  progress.  As  to  Carolina 
troops  and  cannon,  they  are  by  no  means  what  I 
was  made  to  expect :  60  of  them  are  here  and  100 
will  be  here  to-morrow  ;  more,  it  is  said,  will  follow 
in  a  few  days  under  Col.  Howe ;  badly  armed,  can 
non  not  mounted,  no  furniture  to  them.  How  long 
these  people  will  choose  to  stay  is  impossible  for  me 
to  say ;  99  in  100  of  these  lower  people  rank  tories. 
From  all  these  informations,  if  you  can  make  a  di 
version  in  my  favor,  it  will  be  of  service  to  the  col- 


CLOSE   OF  MILITARY   SERVICE.  337 

ony,  and  very  acceptable  to  myself  and  soldiers ; 
whom,  if  possible,  I  will  endeavor  to  keep  easy  un 
der  their  hard  duty,  but  begin  to  doubt  whether  it 
will  be  the  case  long. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  Your  humble  servant, 

"WM.    WOODFOED."1 


In  this  letter  it  is  seen  that  Colonel  Woodford 
took  the  ground  that  Colonel  Henry  was  only  the 
commander  of  the  troops  at  Williamsburg,  where 
the  first  regiment  or  a  part  of  it  was  stationed,  but 
that  being  separated  from  him  he  was  under  no  ob 
ligation  to  report  to  him,  and  he  therefore  declined 
to  do  so.  This  position  was  assumed,  and  had  been 
acted  on  by  him,  not  only  during  the  sessions  of  the 
Committee  and  of  the  Convention,  but  during  the 
time  which  had  intervened  between  the  adjournment 
of  the  Committee  in  November,  and  the  meeting  of 
the  Convention  in  December.  Within  a  few  days 
after  the  date  of  this  letter  Colonel  Howe,  of  North 
Carolina,  joined  Colonel  Woodford,  and  with  his  as 
sent  assumed  command  of  their  combined  forces  ; 
and  thus  Colonel  Henry  saw  the  authority  which 
was  denied  to  him,  yielded  to  an  officer  of  another 
Colony,  who,  also  disregarding  him,  reported  directly 
to  the  Committee  or  to  the  Convention. 


1  Colonel  Woodford  seems  to  have  had  some  feeling  about  the  claim  of 
Colonel  Henry  which  extended  to  the  men  of  the  first  regiment.  A  part 
of  this  regiment  was  ordered  by  the  Convention  to  join  him,  but  their  re 
ception  was  anything  but  cordial.  Captain  Ballard  who  commanded  the 
men  sent  him,  wrote  to  Colonel  Henry,  December  20,  1775,  "Our  recep 
tion  at  the  Great  Bridge  was  to  the  last  degree  cool,  and  absolutely  dis 
agreeable.  We  arrived  there  fatigued,  dry  and  hungry,  we  were  neither 
welcomed,  invited  to  eat  or  drink,  or  shown  a  place  to  rest  our  wearied 
bones,  but  I  thank  my  stars  eamp  duty  has  taught  us  how  to  provide  for 
ourselves  when  none  will."- 
22 


338  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Colonel  Woodford's  position  was  in  direct  conflict 
with  the  commission  held  by  Colonel  Henry,  which 
was  in  the  following  words  : 

o 

"  The  Committee  of  safety  for  the  Colony  of  Vir 
ginia,  to  Patrick  Henry,  Esq. 

"  Whereas,  by  a  resolution  of  the  delegates  of 
this  colony,  in  convention  assembled,  it  was  deter 
mined   that   you,   the   said    Patrick   Henry,   Esq., 
should  be  colonel  of  the  first  regiment  of  regulars, 
and  coinmander-in-chief  of  all  the  forces  raised  for 
the  protection  and  defence  of  this  colony ;  and  by 
an  ordinance  of  the  same  convention  it  is  provided 
that  the  committee  of  safety  should  issue  all  mili 
tary  commissions :  now,  in  pursuance  of  the  said 
power  to  us  granted,  and  in  conformity  to  the  ap 
pointment  of  the  convention,  we,  the  said  commit 
tee  of  safety,  do  constitute  and  commission  you,  the 
said  Patrick  Henry,  Esq.,  colonel  of  the  first  regi 
ment  of  regulars,  and  commander-m-ehief  of  all  such 
other  forces  as  may,  by  order  of  the  convention,  or 
committee  of  safety,  be  directed  to  act  in  conjunc 
tion  with  them ;  and  with  the  said  forces,  or  any  of 
them,  you  are  hereby  empowered  to  resist  and  repel 
all  hostile  invasions,  and  quell  and  suppress  any  in 
surrections  which  may  be  made  or  attempted  against 
the  peace  and  safety  of  this  his  majesty's  colony  and 
dominion.     And  We  do  require  you  to  exert  your 
utmost  efforts  for  the  promotion  of  discipline  and  or 
der  among  the  officers  and  soldiers  under  your  com 
mand,  agreeable  to  such  ordinances,  rules,  and  ar 
ticles,  which  are  now,  or  hereafter  may  be,  instituted 
for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  army  ;  and 
that  you  pay  due  obedience  to  all  orders  and  in 
structions  which  from  time  to  time  you  may  receive 
from  the  convention  or  committee  of  safety  ;  to  hold, 
exercise,  and  enjoy,  the  said  office  of  colonel  and 
commander-in-chief  of  all  the  forces,  to  perform  and 


CLOSE   OF  MILITARY  SERVICE.  339 

execute  the  power  and  authority  aforesaid,  and  all 
other  things  which  are  truly  and  of  right  incidental 
to  your  said  office,  during  the  pleasure  of  the  conven 
tion  and  no  longer.  And  we  do  hereby  require  and 
command  all  officers  and  soldiers  and  every  person 
whatsoever,  in  any  way  concerned,  to  be  obedient 
and  assisting  to  you  in  all  things,  touching  the  due 
execution  of  this  commission,  according  to  the  pur 
port  and  intent  thereof." 

The  only  ground  upon  which  Colonel  Woodford 
could  rely  to  sustain  himself,  in  thus  refusing  to 
acknowledge  the  authority  of  his  commander  in 
chief,  was  a  clause  in  the  ordinance  for  raising  and 
embodying  the  forces.  It  was  in  these  words  : 

"  And  whereas  it  may  be  necessary  for  the  pub 
lic  security  that  the  forces  to  be  raised  by  virtue  of 
this  ordinance  should,  as  occasion  may  require,  be 
marched  to  different  parts  of  the  colony,  and  that 
the  officers  should  be  subject  to  a  proper  controul, 
Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  the 
officers  and  soldiers  under  such  command  shall  in 
all  things,  not  otherwise  particularly  provided  for 
•by  this  ordinance,  and  the  articles  established  for 
their  regulations,  be  under  the  controul,  and  sub 
ject  to  the  order  of  the  General  Committee  of 
Safety." 

This  was  to  be  construed  along  with  the  commis 
sion  of  Colonel  Henry  as  command er-in-chief  of  all 
the  forces,  which  had  been  adopted  by  the  Conven 
tion,  and  issued  by  the  Committee.  The  construc 
tion  which  completely  harmonized  the  two,  was 
that  the  Committee,  which,  while  the  Convention 


340  PATRICK   HENRY. 

was  not  in  session,  was  the  supreme  authority  in 
the  Colony,  had  control  of  the  military  forces,  but 
should  communicate  with  them  through  the  com- 
mauder-in-chief,  to  whom  all  the  officers  should 
report.  Otherwise  he  was  no  longer  commander-in 
ch  ief.  This  was  the  view  taken  by  Colonel  Henry, 
and  he  at  once  laid  the  letter  of  Colonel  Woodford 
before  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  insisted  that 
he  be  required  to  report  to  him  as  his  commanding 
officer.  This  placed  the  Committee  in  a  most  em 
barrassing  position.  Colonel  Woodford  had  won 
the  brilliant  victory  of  the  Great  Bridge  two  days 
after  the  date  of  his  letter  to  Colonel  Henry,  and  at 
once  acquired  a  reputation  which  made  it  very  in 
judicious  to  offend  him.  Besides,  he  was  from  the 
same  county  with  the  president  of  the  Committee, 
and  was  his  intimate  friend.  Added  to  this  was  the 
fact,  that  his  refusal  to  be  subject  to  Colonel  Henry 
was  based  upon  his  claim  of  direct  subjection  to 
the  Committee,  and  that  men  are  loath  to  refuse 
proffered  authority.  On  the  other  hand  Colonel 
Henry's  influence  in  the  Colony  was  very  great,  and 
his  soldiers  were  devoted  to  him,  so  that  it  would  be 
dangerous  to  put  an  open  indignity  upon  him.  Be 
sides,  his  commission  was  explicit  in  constituting 
him.  commander-in-chief.  The  committee,  whose 
term  was  just  expiring,  delayed  action  till  the  new 
committee  could  consider  the  matter,  or  if  they 
came  to  a  conclusion  declined  to  announce  it.  In 
the  meantime  a  member  of  the  Convention 1  opened 
a  correspondence  with  Colonel  Woodford,  to  pre 
pare  him  for  what  it  was  expected  would  be  the 

1  This  was  Joseph  Jones  of  King  George,  as  appears  by  the  letter  of 
Pendleton  of  December  24,  post,  p.  344. 


CLOSE   OF  MILITARY  SERVICE.  341 

action  taken,  and  to  get  his  sentiments  in  reference 
to  it.     On  December  13,  1775,  he  wrote: 

"  Whether  you  are  obliged  to  make  your  returns 
to  Colonel  H — y,  and  to  send  your  dispatches 
through  him  to  the  convention  and  committee  of 
safety,  and  also  from  those  bodies  through  him  to 
you,  must  depend  upon  ordinance  and  the  com 
mission  he  bears.  You  will  observe  his  commis 
sion  is  strongly  worded,  beyond  what  I  believe  was 
the  intention  of  the  person  who  drew  it,  but  the 
ordinance  I  think  clearly  gives  the  convention,  and 
committee  of  safety  acting  under  their  authority, 
the  absolute  direction  of  the  troops.  The  dispute 
between  you  must  be  occasioned,  I  suppose,  (for  I 
have  not  seen  your  letter  to  the  colonel,)  by  disre 
gard  of  him  as  a  commander,  after  the  adjournment 
of  the  committee  of  safety,  and  before  the  meeting 
of  the  convention  ;  at  which  time,  I  am  apt  to  think, 
though  I  am  not  a  military  man  enough  to  deter 
mine,  your  correspondence  should  have  been  with 
him  as  commanding  officer.  I  have  talked  with 
Colonel  Henry  about  this  matter;  he  thinks  he  has 
been  ill-treated  and  insists  the  officers  under  his  com 
mand  shall  submit  to  his  orders.  I  recommended 
it  to  him  to  treat  the  business  with  caution  and 
temper ;  as  a  difference  at  this  critical  moment  be 
tween  our  troops  would  be  attended  with  the  most 
fatal  consequences ;  and  took  the  liberty  to  assure 
him  you  would,  I  was  certain,  submit  to  whatever 
was  thought  just  and  reasonable.  He  has  laid  the 
letter  before  the  committee  of  safety,  whose  senti 
ments  upon  the  subject  I  expect  you  must  have  re 
ceived  before  this ;  I  hope  it  will  not  come  before 
us,  but  from  what  Colonel  Henry  said,  he  intimated 
it  must,  as  it  could  be  no  otherwise  determined. 
My  sentiments  upon  that  delicate  point,  I  partly 
communicated  upon  the  expected  junction  of  the 


342  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Carolina  troops  with  ours,  which  I  presume  you 
have  received.  By  your  letter  yesterday  to  the 
president,  I  find  you  agree  with  me.  I  very  cor 
dially  congratulate  you  on  the  success  at  the  Bridge 
and  the  reduction  of  the  fort,  which  will  give  our 
troops  the  benefit  of  better  and  more  wholesome 
ground.  Your  letter  came  to  the  convention  just 
time  enough  to  read  it  before  we  broke  up,  as  it 
was  nearly  dark ;  it  was  however  proposed  and 
agreed,  that  the  president  should  transmit  you  the 
approbation  of  your  conduct  in  treating  with  kind 
ness  and  humanity  the  unfortunate  prisoners  ;  and 
that  your  readiness  to  avoid  dispute  about  rank 
with  Colonel  Howe,  they  consider  as  a  further 
mark  of  your  attachment  to  the  service  of  your 
country.  I  have  had  it  in  contemplation  paying  you 
a  visit,  but  have  not  been  able  to  leave  the  conven 
tion,  as  many  of  our  members  are  absent,  and  seem 
to  be  in  continual  rotation,  some  going,  others  com 
ing.  We  shall  raise  many  more  battalions,  and,  as 
soon  as  practicable,  arm  some  vessels.  A  com 
mander  or  general,  I  suppose,  will  be  sent  us  by 
the  congress,  as  it  is  expected  our  troops  will  be 
upon  continental  pay.  I  pray  God  to  protect  you, 
and  prosper  your  endeavors." 

Four  days  after  the  date  of  this  letter  the  Con 
vention  re-elected  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  in 
so  doing  plainly  indicated  dissatisfaction  at  the 
treatment  of  Colonel  Henry  on  the  part  of  some  of 
the  members. 

Instead  of  receiving  the  largest  vote  cast,  as  on 
his  first  election,  Pendleton  was  the  fourth  on  the 
list,  Dudley  Digges,  John  Page,  and  Paul  Carrington 
leading  him.1  The  old  members  were  re-elected, 

1  These  seem  to  have  taken  Colonel  Henry's  part  in  the  controversy 
with  Colonel  Woodford. 


CLOSE   OF  MILITARY   SERVICE.  343 

except  George  Mason,  who  declined,  and  Carter 
Braxton.  Their  places  were  filled  by  Joseph  Jones 
and  Thomas  Walker.  The  Committee  as  thus  con 
stituted  passed  a  resolution  which  was  intended  as 
a  compromise  between  the  parties.  It  was  in  these 
words : 

"In  committee— December,  M.D.C.C.LXXV. 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  that  Colonel  Wood- 
f  o;d,  although  acting  under  a  separate  and  detached 
conmand,  ought  to  correspond  with  Colonel  Henry, 
and  make  returns  to  him  at  proper  times,  of  the  state 
and  condition  of  the  forces  under  his  command ; 
and  also  that  he  is  subject  to  his  orders,  when  the 
convention,  or  the  committee  of  safety,  is  not  sit 
ting,  but  that  while  either  of  those  bodies  are  sit 
ting,  lie  is  to  receive  his  orders  from  one  of  them." 

In  transmitting  this  resolution  to  Colonel  Wood- 
ford,  lendleton  displayed  the  greatest  anxiety  that 
it  shoild  not  wound  his  feelings,  and  at  the  same 
time  iidicated  his  hostility  toward  Colonel  Henry. 
His  letter  is  dated  December  24,  1775,  and  after 
mentioning  the  resolution  to  raise  additional  regi 
ments,  le  adds : 

"  The  field-officers  to  each  regiment  will  be  named 
here,  aid  recommended  to  congress;  in  case  our 
army  is  baken  into  continental  pay,  they  will  send 
commissions.  A  general  officer  will  be  chosen  there, 
I  doubt  rot,  and  sent  us ;  with  that  matter,  I  hope 
we  shall  lot  intermeddle,  lest  it  should  be  thought 
propriety  requires  our  calling,  or  rather  recommend 
ing,  our  jresent  first  officer  to  that  station.  Believe 
me,  sir,  tie  unlucky  step  of  calling  that  gentleman 
from  our  councils,  where  he  was  useful,  into  the 
field,  in  ai  important  station,  the  duties  of  which  he 


344  PATRICK  HENRY. 

must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  an  entire  stranger 
to,  has  given  me  many  an  anxious  and  uneasy  mo 
ment.     In  consequence  of  this  mistaken  step,  which 
cannot  now  be  retracted  or  remedied,  for  he  has 
done  nothing  worthy  of  degradation,  and  must  keep 
his  rank,  we  must  be  deprived  of  the  service  of  some 
able  officers,  whose  honor  and  former  ranks  will  not 
suffer  them  to  act  under  him  in  this  juncture  when 
we  so  much  need  their  services  ;  however,  I  am  told, 
that   Mercer,  Buckner,  Dangerfield,  and   Weedcn, 
will  serve,  and  are  all  thought  of.     I  am  also  told 
that  Mr.  Thurston  and  Mr.  Millikin  are  candidstes 
for  regiments ;  the  latter,  I  believe,  will  raise  and 
have  a  German  one.     In  the  course  of  these  reflec 
tions,  my  great  concern  is  on  your  account.    The 
pleasure  I  have  enjoyed  in  finding  your  army  con 
ducted  with  wisdom  and  success,  and  your  conduct 
meet  with  general  approbation  of  the  convention  and 
country,  makes  me  more  uneasy  at  a  thought  that 
the  country  should  be  deprived  of  your  services,  or 
you  made  uneasy  in  it  by  any  untoward  circum 
stances.     I  had  seen  your  letter  to  our  frierd  Mr. 
Jones  (now  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,) 
and  besides  that,  Col.   Henry  has  laid  before  the 
committee  your  letter  to  him,  and  desired  out'  opin 
ion  whether  he  was  to  command  you  or  net.     We 
never  determined  this  till  Friday  evening ;  a  copy 
of  the  resolution  I  enclose  you.     If  this  wit  not  be 
agreeable,  and  prevent  future  disputes,  I  hope  some 
happy  medium  will  be  suggested  to  effect  the  pur 
pose,  and  make  you  easy  ;    for  the  Colony  cannot 
part  with  you,  while  troops  are  necessary  t>  be  con 
tinued." 

This  resolution  seems  to  have  been  acepted  by 
Colonel  Henry  as  a  settlement  of  the  lifficulty, 
though  not  satisfactory  to  him,  and  as  Colonel 
Woodford  was  now  acting  under  Colorel  Howe, 


CLOSE   OF  MILITARY  SERVICE.  345 

who  was  immediately  under  the  Convention,  or  the 
Committee  when  the  Convention  was  not  in  session, 
the  question  was  no  longer  a  practical  one.  All 
orders  to  the  officers,  other  than  to  those  under  Col 
onel  Howe's  command,  passed  through  Colonel  Hen 
ry,  as  we  learn  from  a  letter  of  John  Page  to  Rich 
ard  Henry  Lee,  in  February  1776,1  in  which  he  says, 
"  I  have  been  always  of  your  opinion  with  respect  to 
our  present  commander  in  chief.  All  orders  do  pass 
through  him,  and  we  really  wish  to  be  in  perfect 
harmony  with  him."  But  while  Colonel  Henry  be 
haved  with  that  caution  and  temper  that  the  occa 
sion  demanded,  yet  the  distrust  of  the  Committee 
continued,  and  he  was  kept  inactive  at  Williams- 
burg,  while  Colonel  Howe  was  at  the  head  of  all  the 
active  service  performed. 

While  Colonel  Henry  was  thus  thwarted  in  his 
ambition  as  a  soldier  by  the  Committee,  the  country 
began  to  demand  his  return  to  her  councils,  as  it 
was  evident  that  the  supreme  moment  of  the  Revolu 
tion  was  approaching,  when  the  great  question  of 
independence  was  to  be  decided.  This  feeling  was 
shared  in  by  Washington,  who  wrote  to  Joseph 
Reed,  March  7,  1776:  "I  think  my  countrymen 
made  a  capital  mistake,  when  they  took  Henry  out 
of  the  Senate  to  place  him  in  the  field  ;  and  pity  it 
is  that  he  does  not  see  this,  and  remove  every  diffi 
culty  by  a  voluntary  resignation."  But  so  deter 
mined  was  Colonel  Henry  to  remain  in  the  service, 
that  nothing  short  of  a  direct  slight  by  Congress  in 
making  promotions  in  the  service  could  drive  him 
from  it.  This  he  was  now  to  experience. 

When  the  Convention  determined  to  raise  six  new 

1  Campbell's  History  of  Virginia,  640. 


346  PATRICK  HENRY. 

regiments  letters  were  written  to  the  delegates  in 
Congress,  by  some  of  the  members  not  friendly  to 
Mr.  Henry,  requesting  that  these  be  taken  on  Conti 
nental  establishment.  One  of  these  letters  was  from 
Archibald  Cary  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  bears 
date  December  24,  1775.1  In  it  he  says  :  "  You  will 
hear  before  this  that  six  regiments  are  voted  in  ad 
dition  to  the  other  two.  As  it  seems  probable  that 
these  troops  will  be  employed  on  services  not  local, 
it  is  hoped  they  will  be  put  on  the  general  Conti 
nental  establishment.  The  field  officers  will  be 
named  next  week,  and  a  list  sent  to  the  Congress  for 
their  approbation."  This  was  a  cunningly  devised 
plan  to  supersede  Colonel  Henry  more  completely 
than  had  already  been  done.  The  commissions  of 
Congress  to  the  colonels  of  the  new  regiments 
would  make  them  outrank  the  colonels  commis 
sioned  by  the  Colony,  and  thus  Colonel  Henry, 
when  joined,  would  be  commanded  by  junior  offi 
cers.  Congress  expressed  a  willingness  to  comply 
with  this  request,  but  when  it  came  to  the  knowl 
edge  of  the  Convention  they  saw  the  impropriety  of 
the  step,  and  on  January  10,  1776,  adopted  a  reso 
lution  urging  Congress  to  take  all  the  Virginia 
troops  raised  or  ordered  to  be  raised,  into  Continen 
tal  service,  and'  adding,  that  "  should  the  Congress 
adhere  to  their  resolution  of  taking  into  Continental 
pay  no  more  than  six  battalions,  it  be  earnestly 
recommended  to  them  to  suffer  our  two  present 
regiments  to  stand  first  in  the  arrangement,  since 
otherwise  the  officers  first  appointed  by  this  Con 
vention,  most  of  whom  have  already  gone  through 
a  laborious  and  painful  service,  will  be  degraded  in 

1  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  September,  1858,  p.  185. 


CLOSE   OF   MILITARY  SERVICE.  347 

their  ranks,  and  there  is  too  much  reason  to  appre 
hend  that  great  confusion  will  ensue." 

Acting  on  this  resolution,  Congress,  on  February 
13,  determined  to  include  the  first  and  second  regi 
ments  in  the  six  to  be  taken  into  Continental  service, 
and  appointed  the  same  field  officers  for  all  six  that 
had  been  appointed  by  the  Convention,  their  com 
missions  from  the  Colony  being  thereby  annulled. 
Congress  also  appointed  Colonel  Robert  Howe,  and 
Colonel  Andrew  Lewis,  Brigadier-Generals. 

Thus  although  Colonel  Henry  was  re-appointed 
Colonel  of  the  first  Virginia  regiment,  he  was  really 
degraded  in  rank,  as  instead  of  being  commander  in 
chief  of  the  Virginia  troops,  which  was  the  command 
of  a  Brigadier- General,  his  command  was  confined 
to  that  regiment,  and  he  saw  others  inferior  in  rank 
to  himself  promoted  over  him  to  be  Generals. 
About  this  time  he  was  visited  by  Philip  Mazzei, 
an  Italian  of  considerable  intelligence  and  culture. 

O  ' 

who  had  settled  near,  and  become  intimate  with, 
Mr.  Jefferson.  On  behalf  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and 
John  Page,  Mazzei  urged  Colonel  Henry  to  resign 
his  commission,  and  take  his  place  in  the  councils 
of  the  Colony,  where  matters  of  vital  importance 
needed  his  attention.  Smarting  under  the  contin 
ued  distrust  shown  him  as  a  military  leader,  which 
had  resulted  in  his  being  not  only  passed  by  in  pro 
motions,  but  actually  degraded  in  rank,  and  being 
satisfied  that  his  services  were  desired  by  his  co- 
patriots  in  the  approaching  Convention,  he  no 
longer  hesitated  as  to  his  duty,  and  when  the  Com 
mittee  sent  for  him  on  February  28,  1776,  and 
offered  him  the  commission  of  Congress  as  colonel, 
he  declined  to  receive  it.  The  following  brief  entry 


348  PATRICK   HENRY. 

on  the  Journal  of  the  Committee  states  what  oc 
curred  :  "  Patrick  Henry,  Esquire,  appeared  in  con 
sequence  of  the  letter  wrote  to  him,  and  being 
offered  his  commission  received  from  the  Continen 
tal  Congress  to  be  colonel  of  the  1st  Battalion,  de 
clared  he  could  not  accept  of  the  same."  1 

This  action  produced  a  commotion  in  camp  which 
threatened  serious  consequences,  had  it  not  been 
quelled  at  once  by  the  patriotic  conduct  of  Colonel 
Henry.  The  following  account  of  the  affair  is  con 
tained  in  the  Gazette  of  March  1,  1776  : 

"  Yesterday  morning  the  troops  in  this  city  being 
informed  that  Patrick  Henry,  Esq.,  Commander- 
in-chief  of  the  Virginia  Forces,  resigned  his  com 
mission  the  day  preceding,  (February  28^A,)  and 
was  about  to  leave  them,  the  whole  went  into 
mourning,  and,  under  arms,  waited  on  him  at  his 
lodgings,  when  they  addressed  him  in  the  following 
manner : 

"  <  To  Patrick  Henry,  Jun.,  Esq. : 

"  *  Deeply  impressed,  with  a  grateful  sense  of  the 
obligations  we  lie  under  to  you,  for  the  polite, 
humane  and  tender  treatment  manifested  to  us 
throughout  the  whole  of  your  conduct,  while  we  had 
the  honour  of  being  under  your  command,  permit 
us  to  offer  you  our  sincere  thanks,  as  the  only 
tribute  we  have  in  our  power  to  pay  to  your  real 
merits. 

"  '  Notwithstanding  your  withdrawing  yourself 
from  the  service  fills  us  with  the  most  poignant 

1  The  Journal  of  the  Committee  of  the  next  day  contains  the  following 
entry,  which  shows  the  careful  habit  of  Mr.  Henry  in  money  matters  : 

"  Patrick  Henry  Esquire  settled  his  account  of  money  laid  out  for  con 
tingent  expenses,  balance  due  to  him  £12.  7.  9.  for  which  he  received  an 
order  to  have  credit  with  the  Commissary  of  Stores." 


CLOSE   OF   MILITARY   SERVICE.  349 

sorrow,  as  it  at  once  deprives  us  of  our  father  and 
General,  yet,  as  gentlemen,  we  are  compelled  to  ap 
plaud  your  spirited  resentment  to  the  most  glar 
ing  indignity.  May  your  merit  shine  as  conspicuous 
to  the  world  in  general  as  it  hath  done  to  us,  and 
may  Heaven  shower  its  choicest  blessings  upon  you.' 

"  '  WILLIAMSBURGH,  February  29,  1776.' 

"  To  which  he  returned  the  following  Answer  : 

u  '  GENTLEMEN  :  I  am  extremely  obliged  to  you  for 
your  approbation  of  my  conduct.  Your  Address 
does  me  the  highest  honor.  This  kind  of  testimony 
of  your  regard  to  me  would  have  been  an  ample 
reward  for  services  much  greater  than  I  have  had 
the  power  to  perform.  I  return  you  and  each  of 
you,  gentlemen,  my  best  acknowledgments,  for  the 
spirit,  alacrity,  and  zeal,  you  have  constantly  shewn 
in  your  several  stations.  I  am  unhappy  to  part 
with  you.  I  leave  the  service,  but  I  leave  my  heart 
with  you.  May  God  bless  you,  and  give  you  success 
and  safety,  and  make  you  the  glorious  instruments 
of  saving  our  country.' 

"  After  the  Officers  had  received  Colonel  Henry's 
kind  answer  to  their  Address,  they  insisted  upon 
his  dining  with  them,  at  the  Raleigh  Tavern  before 
his  departure,  and  after  dinner  a  number  of  them 
proposed  escorting  him  out  of  town,  but  were  pre 
vented  by  some  uneasiness  getting  among  the  sol 
diery,  who  assembled  in  a  tumultuous  manner  and 
demanded  their  discharge,  and  declaring  their  un 
willingness  to  serve  under  any  other  commander. 
Upon  which  Colonel  Henry  found  it  necessary  to 
stay  a  night  longer  in  town,  which  he  spent  in  visit 
ing  the  several  barracks,  and  used  every  argument 
in  his  power  with  the  soldiery  to  lay  aside  their  im 
prudent  resolution,  and  to  continue  in  the  service, 


350 


PATRICK   HENRY. 


which  he  had  quitted  from  motives  in  which  his 
honour,  alone,  was  concerned,  and  that,  although  he 
was  prevented  from  serving  his  country  in  a  mili 
tary  capacity,  yet  his  utmost  abilities  should  ever  be 
exerted  for  the  real  interest  of  the  United  Colonies, 
in  support  of  the  glorious  cause  in  which  they  had 
engaged.  This,  accompanied  with  the  extraordinary 
exertions  of  Colonel  Christian,  and  the  other  offi 
cers  present,  happily  produced  the  desired  effect, 
the  soldiers  reluctantly  acquiescing.  And  we  have 
now  the  pleasure  to  assure  the  publick  that  those 
brave  fellows  are  now  pretty  well  reconciled,  and 
will  spend  the  last  drop  of  their  blood  in  their 
country's  defence." 

The  resentment  of  the  indignities  to  which  Col 
onel  Henry  had  been  subjected  was  not  confined  to 
the  soldiers  under  his  immediate  command.  More 
than  ninety  Officers,  including  those  at  Kemp's  Land 
ing,  and  Suffolk,  Col.  Woodford's  camp,  united  in 
the  following  communication,  which  was  published 
at  their  request  in  the  Gazette  of  March  22,  1776. 
The  signatures  are  not  given  in  the  Gazette,  but 
must  have  included  nearly  every  officer  in  commis 
sion.1 

1  The  officers  of  the  two  regiments,  other  than  colonels,  were  for 

FIRST  REGIMENT,  SECOND  REGIMENT, 

Lt.  Col.  Major.  Lt.  Col.  Major. 

Wm.  Christian.  Francis  Eppes.        Charles  Scott.     Alex.  Spotswood. 

OTHER  OFFICERS. 


FIRST  REGIMENT. 


Captains. 

1st  Lieutenants. 

2d  Lieutenants. 

Ensigns. 

John  Green. 
John  Markham. 
John  Sayres. 
Wm.  Davies. 
John  Fleming. 
Robt.  Ballard. 
Wm.  Campbell. 
Geo.  Gibson. 

Rd.  Taylor. 
Wm.  Cunningham. 
Goodrich  Crump. 
Willis  Wilson. 
Wm.  Lewis. 
Ed.  Garland. 
Danl.  Trigg. 

John  Eustice. 
Joseph  Scott. 
Matthew  Smith. 
Fran.  Boyakin. 
John  Pettus. 
John  Clayton. 
Alex.  Cuming. 

John  Lee. 
Tarlton  Woodson. 
Nat.  Burwell. 
Jonathan  Godwin. 
David  Anderson. 
Claiborne  Lawson. 
Geo.  Lambert. 

CLOSE   OF  MILITARY   SERVICE. 


351 


"  Address  to  Patrick  Henry,  Jun.j  Esq.,  Late  Com- 
mander-in-  Chief  of  the  Virginia  Forces. 

"  SIR  :  Deeply  concerned  for  the  good  of  our 
country,  we  sincerely  lament  the  unhappy  necessity 
of  your  resignation,  and  with  all  the  warmth  of  af 
fection  assure  you,  that  whatever  may  have  given 
rise  to  the  indignity  lately  offered  to  you,  we  join 
with  the  general  voice  of  the  people,  and  think  it 
our  duty  to  make  this  publick  declaration  of  our 
high  respect  for  your  distinguished  merit.  To  your 
vigilance  and  judgment,  as  a  Senator,  this  United 
Continent  bears  ample  testimony,  while  she  prose 
cutes  her  steady  opposition  to  those  destructive  Min 
isterial  measures  which  your  eloquence  first  pointed 
out  and  taught  to  resent,  and  your  resolution  led 
forward  to  resist.  To  your  extensive  popularity  the 
service,  also,  is  greatly  indebted  for  the  expedition 
with  which  the  troops  were  raised ;  and  while  they 
were  continued  under  your  command,  the  firmness, 
candour,  and  politeness,  which  formed  the  complexion 
of  your  conduct  towards  them,  obtained  the  signal 
approbation  of  the  wise  and  virtuous,  and  will  leave 
upon  our  minds  the  most  grateful  impression. 

"  Although  retired  from  the  immediate  concerns 
of  war,  we  solicit  the  continuance  of  your  kindly  at 
tention.  We  know  your  attachment  to  the  best  of 


SECOND  REGIMENT. 


Captains. 

1st  Lieutenants. 

2d  Lieutenants. 

Ensigns. 

Geo.  Johnston. 
Richd.  Parker,  jr. 
Wm.  Taliaferro. 
Geo.  Nicholas. 
Wm.  Fountaine. 
R.  Kidder  Meade. 
Morgan  Alexander, 

Thos.  Tibbs. 
Catesby  Jones. 
John  Willis. 
Beverly  Dickson. 
John  Marks. 
Ed.  Travis. 
Geo.  Jump. 

Wm.  Samford. 
John  Monroe. 
Seymore  Hooe. 
Thos.  Russell. 
Thos.  Hughes. 
Bullar  Claiborne. 
Marques  Calmes. 

Peyton  Harrison. 
Alex.  Parker. 
Ben.  Holmes. 
Merritt  Moore. 
Wm.  Robinson. 
John  Nicholas. 
John  Holden. 

Vide -American  Archives  (5th  Series),  ii.,  820. 
officers  of  the  minute  men. 


To  these  must  be  added  the 


352  PATRICK   HENRY. 

causes ;  we  have  the  fullest  confidence  in  your  abili 
ties,  and  in  the  rectitude  of  your  views,  and,  how 
ever  willing  the  envious  may  be  to  undermine  an 
established  reputation,  we  trust  the  day  will  come 
when  justice  shall  prevail,  and  thereby  secure  you 
an  honourable  and  happy  return  to  the  glorious 
employment  of  conducting  our  councils,  and  hazard 
ing  your  life  in  the  defence  of  Your  country. 

"  With  the  most  grateful  sentiments  of  regard  and 
esteem,  we  are,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  most 
obliged  and  obedient,  humble  servants. 

"Signed  by  upwards  of  ninety  Officers,  at  Kemp's 
Landing,  Suffolk,  and  Williamsburgh." 

Had  there  been  any  doubt  as  to  the  body  against 
which  the  charge  of  envy  was  thus  directed,  it 
would  have  been  removed  by  the  following  defence 
of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  which  appeared  in  the 
Gazette  of  March  15,  1776. 

"  MR.  PURDIE  :  I  am  informed  a  report  is  prevail 
ing  through  the  colony,  that  the  committee  of  safety 
were  the  cause  of  Col.  Henry's  resigning  the  com 
mand  of  his  battalion  ;  which  it  is  supposed  hath  re 
ceived  confirmation  from  the  address  of  the  officers  to 
that  gentleman,  in  which  they  speak  of  a  glaring  indig 
nity  having  been  offered  him,  if  it  was  not  wholly 
derived  from  that  source.  That  the  good  people  of 
the  country  may  be  truly  informed  in  this  matter, 
the  following  state  of  facts  is  submitted,  without 
comment,  to  the  impartial  judgment  of  the  public : 

"  As  soon  as  the  last  convention  had  voted  the 
raising  seven  new  battalions  of  troops,  besides 
augmenting  the  old  ones,  the  committee  of  safety 
informed  our  delegates  to  congress  of  that  vote,  de 
siring  they  would  use  their  best  endeavors  to  have 
the  whole  supported  at  continental  expense ;  in 
answer  to  which,  a  letter  was  received  from  the 


CLOSE  OF  MILITARY  SERVICE.  353 

delegates,  dated  the  30th  of  December,  of  which 
the  following  is  an  extract :  *  The  resolutions  of  con 
gress  for  taking  our  six  additional  (they  would  not 
agree  to  take  our  other  two)  battalions,  into  conti 
nental  pay,  and  for  permitting  an  exportation  for 
supplying  our  countrymen  with  salt,  are  enclosed.' 
It  was  supposed  from  hence,  an  intention  prevailed  in 
congress  to  pass  by  the  two  old  battalions,  and  take 
six  of  the  new  ones  into  continental  pay ;  which,  as 
it  was  said  those  officers  would  take  precedency  of 
provincial  ones  of  equal  rank,  was  generally  thought 
wrong,  since  it  would  degrade  the  officers  of  the 
two  first  battalions ;  and,  to  avoid  this,  the  con 
vention  came  to  a  resolution,  the  10th  of  Janu 
ary,  of  which  the  following  is  part :  4  Should  the 
congress  adhere  to  their  resolution  of  taking  into 
continental  pay  no  more  than  six  battalions,  let  it 
be  earnestly  recommended  to  them  to  suffer  our  two 
present  battalions  (to  be  completed  as  before  men 
tioned)  to  stand  first  in  the  arrangement;  since 
otherwise  the  officers  first  appointed  by  this  con 
vention,  most  of  whom  have  already  gone  through 
a  laborious  and  painful  service,  will  be  degraded  in 
their  ranks,  and  there  is  too  much  reason  to  appre 
hend  that  great  confusion  will  ensue.' 

"The  worthy  gentleman  (not  a  member  of  the 
committee  of  safety)  who  proposed  this  resolution, 
informed  the  convention,  he  had  consulted  some  of 
the  officers  of  the  first  regiment,  who  wished  to  have 
their  rank  preserved,  though  it  was  foreseen  the 
pay  would  be  reduced. 

u  The  committee  of  safety,  in  a  letter  to  the 
delegates,  dated  the  25th  of  January,  enclosing  this 
resolution,  thus  write :  '  You  have  a  list  of  the  field 
officers  as  they  stand  recommended,  and  we  doubt 
not  receiving  the  commissions  in  the  like  order,  with 
blanks  for  the  proper  number  of  captains  and 
subalterns.  If,  however,  the  resolution  of  congress 


354  PATRICK  HENRY. 

should  be  unalterably  fixed  to  allow  us  but  six  bat 
talions,  you  will  please  to  attend  to  tliat  part  of  the 
resolve  which  recommends  their  being  the  first  six, 
as  a  point  of  great  consequence  to  our  harmony,  in 
which  may  be  involved  the  good  of  the  common 
cause.' 

"The  committee  of  safety  afterward  received  the 
commissions  wholly  filled  up  for  the  field  officers  of 
six  battalions,  in  the  rank  they  stood  recommended 
by  the  convention,  beginning  with  Col.  Henry,  and 
ending  with  Col.  Buckner  of  the  6th  battalion,  with 
directions  to  deliver  them.  Colonel  Henry  was  ac- 
cordino-ly  offered  his  commission,  which  he  declined 
accepting  and  retired  without  assigning  any  rea 
sons. 

"  As  to  the  general  officers,  the  convention  left 
them  entirely  to  the  choice  of  the  congress,  without 
recommendation  ;  nor  did  the  committee  of  safety 
at  all  intermeddle  in  that  choice. 

"A  FRIEND  TO  TRUTH. 

This  disingenuous  attempt  to  defend  the  action  of 
the  Committee  was  not  satisfactory,  as  the  address 
of  the  officers  was  published  by  their  request  in  a 
subsequent  issue  of  the  paper,  and  in  the  paper  con 
taining  the  defence  the  following  article  appeared  : 

u  Envy  will  merit  as  its  shade  pursue ; 
But,  like  the  shadow,  proves  the  substance  true."— POPE. 

"  I  was  not  surprised  to  see,  in  your  last  week's 
Gazette,  the  resignation  of  P.  Henry,  Esq.,  late 
Commander-in  chief  of  all  the  Virginia  Forces, 
and  Colonel  of  the  First  Kegiment.  From  that 
great  man's  amiable  disposition,  his  invariable  per 
severance  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  we  apprehend  that 
envy  strove  to  bury  in  obscurity  his  martial  talents, 
fettered  and  confined,  with  only  an  empty  title,  the 


CLOSE  OF  MILITARY   SERVICE.  355 

mere  echo  of  authority,  his  superior  abilities  lay  in 
active,  nor  could  be  exerted  for  his  honour  or  his 
country's  good. 

"  Virginia  may  truly  boast,  that  in  him  she  finds 
the  able  statesman,  the  soldier's  father,  the  best  of 
citizens,  and  liberty's  dear  friend.  Clad  with  inno 
cence,  as  in  a  coat  of  mail,  he  is  proof  against  every 
serpentile  whisper.  The  officers  and  soldiers,  who 
know  him,  are  riveted  to  his  bosom :  when  he 
speaks,  all  is  silence ;  when  he  orders,  they  cheer 
fully  obey;  and  in  the  field  under  so  sensible,  so 
prudent  an  officer,  though  hosts  oppose  them,  with 
shouts  they  meet  their  armed  foe,  the  sure  presages 
of  victory  and  success. 

"  Let  us,  my  countrymen,  with  grateful  hearts,  re 
member  that  he  carried  off  the  standard  of  liberty, 
and  defeated  Grenville  in  his  favourite  Stamp  Act. 

1 '  While  many  dreaded  till  with  pleasing  eye, 
Saw  tyranny  before  brave  Henry  fly." 

"  I  am,  Mr.  Purdie,  your  friend,  and  well  wisher 
to  Virginia. 

"  AN  HONEST  FARMER." 

The  attempted  defence  was  seen  to  be  unsatisfac 
tory,  and  soon  there  appeared  over  the  signature  of 
u  Cato,"  an  elaborate  article  purporting  to  give 
the  circumstances  of  Colonel  Henry's  election,  the 
grounds  of  opposition  to  him,  the  intention  of  the 
framers  of  his  Commission,  and  the  action  of  the 
Convention  and  Congress  which  led  to  his  resigna 
tion.  This  article  was  evidently  inspired,  if  not 
written,  by  some  member  of  the  Committee,  as  it 
discloses  familiarity  with  their  proceedings,  and  is  a 
studied  attempt  to  place  Colonel  Henry  in  the  wrong 
by  a  suppression  of  the  true  ground  of  his  resigna- 


356  PATRICK  HENRY. 

tion.1  This  was  no  more  satisfactory  than  the  first 
attempted  defence,  and  the  Committee,  and  espe 
cially  its  president,  were  severely  censured  for  their 
conduct.  So  strong  was  this  feeling,  and  the  dissat 
isfaction  in  some  parts  of  the  Colony  at  the  conduct 
which  had  caused  the  resignation  of  Colonel  Henry, 
that  John  Page,  in  a  letter  to  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
April  12,  1776,  giving  several  reasons  why  the 
threatened  attack  of  the  British  was  to  be  dreaded,2 
says,  "  Our  people  in  some  places  disconcerted  about 
Henry's  resignation."  3 

Pendleton  was  aware  that  he  was  particularly 
blamed,  and  became  so  irritated  in  consequence  that 
we  find  him  using  the  following  unbecoming  lan 
guage  in  a  letter  to  Colonel  Woodford,  who  con 
sulted  him  about  the  propriety  of  resigning  his  com 
mission.4  "  I  am  apprehensive  that  your  resignation 
will  be  handled  to  your  disadvantage  from  a  certain 
quarter,  where  all  reputations  are  sacrificed  for  the 
sake  of  one ;  what  does  it  signify  that  he  resigned 
without  any  such  cause,  or  assigning  any  reason  at 
all  ?  It  is  not  without  example  that  others  should 
be  censured  for  what  he  is  applauded  for." 

In  after  years  it  was  said  that  Colonel  Henry  was 
deemed  by  the  Committee  too  lax  in  his  discipline,6 
but  in  all  the  communications  of  the  Committee 

1  See  this  article  in  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  iv.,  1519. 

2  See  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  October,  1858,  255. 

3  While  there  was  the  feeling  described  by  John  Page  in  some  quarters, 
many  rejoiced  that  Colonel  Henry  would  be  again  in  the  councils  of  the 
Colony  at  this  critical  period.     Colonel  Reed,  in  answer  to  the  letter  of 
Washington  previously  noticed,  says,  "We  have  some  accounts  from  Vir 
ginia  that  Colonel  Henry  has  resigned  in  disgust  at  not  being  made  a  gen 
eral  officer  ;  but  it  rather  gives  satisfaction  than  otherwise,  as  his  abilities 
seem  better  calculated  for  the  Senate  than  the  field." 

4  Wirt's  Henry,  206. 

5  Grigsby's  Virginia  Convention  of  1776,  52-3,  note. 


CLOSE   OF  MILITARY   SERVICE.  357 

to  him  we  find  no  complaint  of  a  want  of  disci 
pline,  and  it  was  doubtless  said  in  attempted  jus 
tification.  No  harsh  word  seems  to  have  escaped 
Mr.  Henry's  lips.  Conscious  of  being  in  the  right, 
he  cared  little  for  the  strictures  of  others  on  his 
conduct.  Had  he  needed  vindication,  the  united 
testimony  of  the  officers  under  his  own  and  Colonel 
Woodf  ord's  command  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  con 
duct  was  sufficient.  But  no  one  who  can  appreciate 
a  soldier's  sense  of  honor,  will  hesitate  for  a  moment 
to  applaud  his  spirited  resentment  of  the  indignity 
offered  him.  Twenty-one  years  before,  Washing 
ton,  under  similar  circumstances,  had  resigned  his 
commission  as  Colonel,  and  his  conduct  had  met 
with  general  approval. 

It  is  useless  to  speculate  on  what  would  have  been 
his  career  had  Colonel  Henry  remained  in  the  mili 
tary  service.  Yet  we  must  believe  that  had  he  sur 
vived  the  dangers  of  the  battle-field,  he  would  have 
added  one  more  name  to  the  long  list  of  citizen 
soldiers  who  have  faithfully  served  their  coun 
try,  and  his  genius  might  have  won  for  him  a  place 
upon  the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame,  making  him, 
as  a  military  chieftain,  the  peer  of  a  Sylla  and  a 
Clive.  But  whatever  might  have  been  his  military 
career,  we  now  clearly  see  that  it  was  the  hand  of  a 
gracious  Providence  which  led  him  from  the  camp 
to  the  hall  of  legislation,  and  to  the  office  of  Execu 
tive,  in  both  of  which  his  services,  which  might  not 
have  been  rendered  by  another,  were  of  transcend 
ent  importance  to  his  country. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PBOGBESS  OF  THE  BEVOLUTION.— (1776.) 

Bitterness  of  the  King. — Debates  in  Parliament  on  American 
Affairs. — Firmness  of  the  Friends  of  America.  Vindictiveness 
of  the  Administration. — Effect  in  America. — Evidence  that  In 
dependence  had  not  been  Previously  Desired. — Alleged  Meck 
lenburg  Declaration. — Change  in  American  Sentiment  as  to  In 
dependence.— Difficulties  in  the  Way. — Congress  Hampered. — 
The  People  of  Virginia  Declare  for  Independence. — Charlotte 
County  Instructions. — All  Eyes  turned  upon  Patrick  Henry. — 
Letters  to  Him. 

WHILE  the  Committee  of  Safety  were  holding 
Colonel  Henry  inactive  in  his  camp  at  Williams- 
burg,  the  political  revolution  of  the  Colonies  was 
hurrying  to  its  consummation,  and  the  contest  with 
the  mother  country  was  assuming  an  entirely 
different  character.  On  August  18, 1775,  the  King 
wrote  to  Lord  North.  "  I  am  unalterably  deter 
mined  at  every  hazard  and  at  the  risk  of  every  con 
sequence,  to  compel  the  colonies  to  absolute  submis 
sion,"  and  he  added  that,  "  it  would  be  better  totally" 
to  abandon  them  than  to  admit  a  single  shadow  of 
their  doctrines."  * 

In  this  temper  he  convened  Parliament  October 
26.  He  opened  the  session  with  a  violent  speech, 
in  which  he  attributed  the  condition  of  affairs  in 
America  entirely  to  the  intrigues  of  their  political 
leaders,  whom  he  charged  with  duplicity  in  their 
communications  with  the  British  Government ;  say- 

1  Donne's  Correspondence  of  George  III.,  i.,  203. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          359 

ing,  "  They  meant  only  to  amuse  by  vague  expres 
sions  of  attachment  to   the  parent   state,  and  the 
strongest  protestations  of  loyalty  to  me,  while  they 
were  preparing  for  a  general  revolt.     ,     .     .     The 
rebellious  war  now  levied  is  become  more  general, 
and   is   manifestly  carried   on  for  the   purpose  of 
establishing  an  independent  empire/'     His  Majes 
ty  then  proceeded  to  say,  it  was  "  the  part  of  wis 
dom  and  clemency  to  put  a  speedy  end  to  these 
disorders   by   the    most   decisive    measures.      For 
this  purpose  I  have  increased  my  naval  establish 
ment  and  greatly  augmented  my  land  forces."     He 
promised  however  to  send  commissioners  with  his 
forces,  with   authority  to   grant   pardons   and   in 
demnities  to  individuals,  and  to  receive  the  submis 
sion  of  any  province  or  colony.     He  hinted  at  his 
employment  of  foreign  troops,  and  closed  by  asking 
for  the  supplies  necessary  for  the  conduct  of  the 
war.     The   addresses   moved   in   the   two    Houses 
in  reply  to  this  speech  expressed  satisfaction  with 
the  conduct  of  the  King,  and  entire  sympathy  with 
his  purpose  to  put  down   "  a  rebellion  manifestly 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and  maintaining  an 
independent  empire."     Upon  these  addresses  mem 
orable  debates  arose,  which  developed  the  fact  that 
some  of  the  ablest  supporters  of  the  government  at 
the  preceding  session  refused  to  sanction  the  war 
upon  which  they  had  entered,  charging  the  Ministry 
with  having  grossly  deceived  them  as  to  the  true 
condition   of   affairs  in   America.      The   addresses 
were  carried  however  by  a  vote  of  more  than  two 
to  one  in  each  House.     The  able  and  determined 
minority,  nothing  daunted,  renewed  their  opposition 
upon  every  motion  of  the  Government  in  aid  of  the 


360  PATRICK  HENRY. 

war,  and  brought  forward  from  time  to  time  pro 
posals  for  reconciliation  with  the  Colonies.  The 
session  lasted  till  May  23,  1776,  and  was  chiefly 
occupied  with  American  affairs. 

In  the  Lords  the  Government  was  supported  by 
the  Earls  of  Rockford,  Sandwich,  and  Dartmouth, 
and  Lord  George  Sackville  Germaine,  all  members  of 
the  cabinet.  These  were  powerfully  aided  by  Lord 
Mansfield,  whose  great  intellect  was  too  often  exert 
ed  in  behalf  of  tyranny.  They  were  opposed  by 
Lord  Camden,  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  the  Earl 
of  Shelburne,  the  Dukes  of  Richmond,  Manchester, 
and  Graf  ton,  and  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham.  In 
the  Commons  the  leaders  on  the  side  of  Government 
were  Lord  North,  Solicitor  General  Wedderburn, 
Attorney  General  Thurlow,  Sir  Adam  Ferguson, 
and  Governor  Littleton,  while  the  opposition  were 
led  by  Burke,  Fox,  Barre,  Wilkes,  Governor  John- 
stone,  General  Conway,  and  Temple  and  James 
Luttrell. 

The  devoted  band  that  dared  brave  the  anger  of 
the  King  and  the  madness  of  the  hour,  and  defend 
American  rights  under  the  taunt  of  being  abettors 
of  treason,  deserve  to  be  held  in  lasting  remem 
brance.  Two  passages  illustrate  the  firmness  and 
spirit  with  which  they  met  the  bitter  assaults  of 
the  ministerial  party.  In  the  House  of  Lords  the 
Duke  of  Richmond  having  said,  "  I  do  not  think  the 
people  of  America  in  rebellion,  but  resisting  acts  of 
the  most  unexampled  cruelty  and  oppression,"  he 
was  loudly  called  to  order,  and  the  Earl  of  Den 
bigh,  in  an  excited  and  boisterous  manner,  under 
took  to  reprimand  him,  closing  with  the  words,  u  I 
do  openly  contend  that  those  who  defend  rebellion, 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    361 

are  themselves  little  better  than  rebels;  and  that 
.there  is  very  little  difference  between  the  traitor, 
and  he  who  openly  or  privately  abets  treason."  The 
Duke  commenced  a  withering  reply  by  saying,  "  The 
noise  your  lordships  have  heard,  has  reached  below 
the  bar,  and  must  convince  you  that  the  noble  Earl 
who  spoke  last  has  been  heard  there.  But  I  will 
tell  his  lordship,  that  I  am  not  to  be  intimidated  or 
deterred  from  my  duty  by  loud  words.  Such  ex 
ertions  of  mere  sound  will  not  prevent  me  from 
punctually  performing  my  duty.'7  Later  in  the  ses 
sion  upon  the  news  of  the  death  of  Montgomery  in 
attempting  to  storm  Quebec,  Barre,  Burke,  and 
Fox,  all  passed  high  eulogies  in  the  House  of  Com 
mons  upon  the  gallant  American.  Lord  North 
thereupon  arose,  and  "  censured  what  he  called  this 
unqualified  liberality  of  the  praises  bestowed  on 
General  Montgomery,  by  the  gentlemen  in  opposi 
tion,  because  they  were  bestowed  upon  a  rebel ;  and 
said  he  could  not  join  in  lamenting  his  death  as  a 
public  loss.  He  admitted,  indeed,  that  he  was 
brave,  humane,  generous ;  but  still  he  was  only  a 
brave,  able,  humane,  and  generous  rebel ;  and  said, 
that  the  verse  of  the  tragedy  of  Cato  might  be  ap 
plied  to  him — 

'  Curse  on  his  virtues,  they've  undone  his  country.' " 

Mr.  Fox  arose  a  second  time  and  said : 

"  The  term  £  rebel '  applied  by  the  noble  Lord,  to 
that  excellent  person,  was  no  certain  mark  of  dis- 

frace,  and  therefore  he  was  the  less  earnest  to  clear 
im  of  the  imputation  ;  for  that  all  the  great  assert- 
ors  of  liberty,  the  saviours   of  their  country,  the 
benefactors  of  mankind,  in  all  ages,  had  been  called 


362  PATRICK  HENRY. 

rebels  ;  that  they  even  owed  the  constitution,  which 
enabled  them  to  sit  in  that  house,  to  a  rebellion — 

— '  Sunt  hie  etiam  sua  prmmia  laudi ; 
Sunt  lachrymse  rerum,  et  raentem  mortalia  tangunt.'  "  ' 

The  most  noted  act  of  this  session,  the  one  which 
affected  most  the  minds  of  the  Americans,  was  the 
act  prohibiting  all  trade  with  the  thirteen  Colonies. 
American  vessels  and  goods  were  made  the  property 
of  the  captors,  and  the  prisoners  might  be  compelled 
to  serve  the  King  against  their  own  countrymen. 
No  grievance  was  removed,  but  commissioners  were 
appointed  to  receive  the  submission  of  communities, 
or  individuals.  Lord  North  in  introducing  the  bill 
declared  it  was  purely  a  war  measure,  and  it  was 
treated  as  a  declaration  of  war  by  both  parties  in 
the  debates  which  followed,  and  was  so  regarded  in 
America. 

Important  changes  were  made  in  the  ministry. 
The  Duke  of  Graf  ton  retired  and  threw  himself 
into  the  Opposition.  The  weak  and  vacillating 
Earl  of  Dartmouth  took  the  privy  seal,  and  was  suc 
ceeded  as  secretary  of  the  colonies  by  the  cowardly 
and  cruel  Lord  George  Sackville  Germaine.  The 
Earl  of  Rockford  was  succeeded  as  one  of  the  secre 
taries  of  state  by  Lord  Wey  mouth,  greatly  his  su 
perior  in  ability  and  resolution.  These  changes 
were  all  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  the  most 
vigorous  war  against  the  Colonies.  But  the  war 

1  The  exclamation  of  ./Eneas  upon  seeing  upon  the  walls  of  Dido's 
temple  pictures  of  the  struggles  around  Troy.     I.  .^Gneid,  461,  462. 

.     .     .     "  Aye  praise  waits  on  Worth  " 
"  E'en  in  this  corner  of  the  earth ; " 
"E'en  here  the  tear  of  pity  springs," 
"  And  hearts  are  touched  by  human  things." 

— CONINGTON'S  Translation. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    363 

was  to  a  great  extent  the  war  of  the  ministry.  The 
heart  of  the  people  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the 
King,  and  unable  to  enlist  the  needed  soldiers  either 
in  England,  Scotland,  or  Ireland,  he  was  forced  to 
seek  them  in  Europe.  His  applications  to  Holland 
and  Russia  were  refused,  but  he  succeeded  in  hiring 
troops  from  two  of  the  petty  princes  of  Germany, 
Charles,  Duke  of  Brunswick,  and  Frederick  the 
Second,  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel,  and  Count  of 
Hanau.  These  dissolute  princes,  with  inhuman 
heartlessness,  filled  their  empty  coffers  with  the 
blood  money  of  their  subjects,  and  furnished  the 
British  tyrant  with  the  hireling  force  with  which 
he  trusted  to  enslave  his  own  subjects. 

The  speech  of  the  King  upon  the  opening  of 
parliament  was  not  published  in  America  till  Janu 
ary  4,  1776.  Up  to  that  time  the  utterances  of  the 
public  bodies  in  the  Colonies  had  been  constant  pro 
testations  of  their  desire  to  continue  the  union  with 
the  mother  country  as  it  had  formerly  existed. 
As  late  as  November  29,  1775,  the  Continental 
Congress  in  their  letters  to  the  Colonial  agents  in 
Europe,  said  :  "  There  is  nothing  more  ardently  de 
sired  by  North  America  than  a  lasting  union  with 
Great  Britain,  on  terms  of  just  and  equal  liberty." 
This  desire  was  attested  by  the  Virginia  Conven 
tion  and  the  Rhode  Island  Assembly,  as  late  as 
August,  by  the  North  Carolina  Congress,  September 
8  ;  by  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly,  November  9 ; 
by  the  New  Jersey  Assembly,  N  ovember  28 ;  by  the 
Maryland  Convention,  December  7 ;  and  by  the 
New  York  Congress,  December  14. 

These  protestations  of  a  desire  to  continue  the 
union  with  England  while  the  Colonies  were  resist- 


364  PATRICK  HENRY. 

ing  the  tyrannical  claims  of  the  British  Govern 
ment,  were  treated  as  hypocritical  and  treacherous, 
not  only  by  the  king  and  parliament,  but  by  re 
spectable  writers  of  the  day  and  of  later  times,  who 
have  charged  the  Colonies  with  harboring  a  design 
of  independence  even  before  the  present  dispute.1 
The  charge  of  duplicity  against  the  American  pa 
triots,  could  only  have  been  made  by  those  who  did 
not  appreciate  their  high  characters  and  noble 
purposes.  Certain  it  is,  that  their  private  and  con 
fidential  communications  were  in  accordance  with 
their  public  utterances. 

On  October  9,  1774,  Washington,  after  mingling 
freely  with  the  leading  spirits  in  America  assem 
bled  in  Congress,  wrote  to  his  friend  Captain  Mac 
kenzie,  "  I  am  well  satisfied  that  no  such  thing  (as 
independence)  is  desired  by  any  thinking  man  in 
all  North  America ;  on  the  contrary,  that  it  is  the 
ardent  wish  of  the  warmest  advocates  for  liberty, 
that  peace  and  tranquillity,  upon  constitutional 
grounds,  may  be  restored,  and  the  horrors  of  civil 
discord  prevented." 2  Governor  Richard  Penn,  who 
after  delivering  the  second  petition  to  the  King  was 
examined  before  Parliament  and  was  asked  whether 
he  knew  the  members  of  the  Congress  of  1775,  and 
whether  their  aim  was  independence,  answered,3 
a  I  am  acquainted  with  almost  all  the  members  of 
the  Congress,  I  think  they  do  not  carry  on  the  war 
for  independency,  I  never  heard  them  breathe  senti 
ments  of  that  nature."  Samuel  Adams  wrote  to 
Arthur  Lee,  February  14,  1774,  while  in  attendance 
at  the  Massachusetts  Provincial  Congress,  and  re- 

1  See  Chalmers,  Johnson,  Jenyns,  Botta  and  Grahame. 

2  Writings  of  Washington,  ii. ,  402.  3  Parliamentary  History. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    365 

ferred  to  the  idea  of  independence  as  something 
"  we  all  sincerely  deprecate."  On  August  25,  1775, 
Jefferson  wrote  to  his  friend  John  Randolph,  then 
in  England,1  deploring  another  campaign,  as  likely 
"  to  risk  our  accepting  a  foreign  aid,  which,  per 
haps,  may  not  be  obtainable,  but  on  condition  of 
everlasting  evulsion  from  Great  Britain,"  and  ad 
ded  :  "  This  would  be  thought  a  hard  condition,  to 
those  who  still  wish  for  reunion  with  their  parent 
country.  I  am  sincerely  one  of  those,  and  would 
rather  be  in  dependence  on  Great  Britain,  properly 
limited,  than  on  any  nation  on  earth,  or  than  on  no 
nation."2  And  in  1821,  he  affirmed,3  "  Before  that 
(the  commencement  of  hostilities)  I  never  heard  a 
whisper  of  a  disposition  to  separate  from  Great 
Britain ;  and  after  that,  its  possibility  was  contem 
plated  with  affliction  by  all."  John  Adams  at  the 
same  time  declared,4  "  that  there  existed  a  general 
desire  of  independence  of  the  crown  in  any  part  of 
America,  before  the  revolution,  is  as  far  from  the 
truth  as  the  zenith  from  the  nadir."  "  For  my  own 
part,  there  was  not  a  moment  during  the  revolution 
when  I  would  not  have  given  everything  I  possessed 
for  a  restoration  to  the  state  of  things  before  the  con 
test  began,  provided  we  could  have  had  a  sufficient 
security  for  its  continuance."  5  And  John  Jay  also 
then  said,6  "  During  the  course  of  my  life,  and  until 

1  Writings  of  Jefferson,  i.,  151. 

2  In  Jefferson's  Notes  on  Virginia,  he  said  :  "  It  is  well  known  that  in 
July,  1775,  a  separation  from  Great  Britain  and  establishment  of  republi 
can  government  had  never  yet  entered  into  any  person's  mind." 

3  Life  of  John  Jay,  ii. ,  417. 

4  Ibid.,  416. 

6  See  also  his  letter  to  a  friend,  February  18,  1776,  American  Archives 
(4th  Series),  iv.,  1183,  where  he  expresses  his  desire  for  reconciliation. 
0  Life  of  John  Jay,  ii.,  412. 


366  PATRICK   HENRY. 

after  the  second  petition  of  congress  in  1775, 1  never 
heard  an  American  of  any  class,  or  of  any  descrip 
tion,  express  a  wish  for  the  independence  of  the 
colonies.  ...  It  has  always  been,  and  still  is 
my  opinion  and  belief,  that  our  country  was 
prompted  and  impelled  to  independence  by  necessity 
and  not  by  choice.  Those  who  know  how  we  were 
then  circumstanced,  know  from  whence  that  neces 
sity  resulted." 

We  have  also  a  remarkable  attestation  of  the 
truth  of  these  statements  in  a  pastoral  letter  of  the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  May  22, 1775, 
to  their  members  in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Dela 
ware,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 
in  which,  referring  to  the  existing  war,  they  say,  "  It 
gives  us  the  greatest  pleasure  to  say,  from  our  own 
certain  knowledge  of  all  belonging  to  our  commun 
ion,  and  from  the  best  means  of  information,  of 
the  far  greatest  part  of  all  denominations  in  this 
country,  that  the  present  opposition  to  the  measures 
of  administration  does  not  in  the  least  arise  from 
disaffection  to  the  king,  or  a  desire  of  separation 
from  the  parent  state."  1 

Samuel  Adams  and  Patrick  Henry  were  un 
doubtedly  among  the  first  to  abandon  all  hope  of 
reconciliation,  and  to  realize  that  independence  was 
a  necessary  step,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  either 
commenced  the  struggle  for  colonial  rights  with 
any  desire  to  attain  independence. 

The  people  of  Mecklenburg  County,  North  Caro 
lina,  whos"e  resolutions  in  May,  1775,  have  been  so 
much  discussed  in  late  years,  formed  no  exception 

1  See    this  truly   patriotic   and   Christian   letter    in   Records  of    the 
Presbyterian  Church,  46G-9. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    367 

to  the  statement  that  the  colonies  did  not  then 
desire  independence.  The  first  publication  as  to 
the  disputed  resolutions  which  attracted  attention 
was  made  in  the  Raleigh  Register,  April  30,  1819, 
and  consisted  of  a  copy  of  a  paper,  said  to  have 
been  left  by  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  deceased,  giv 
ing  an  account  of  a  meeting  at  Charlotte,  the  county 
seat  of  Mecklenburg  County,  May  20,  1775,  and  the 
adoption  then  of  a  series  of  resolutions,  whereby 
they  absolved  themselves  "  from  all  allegiance  to  the 
British  crown."  The  copy  had  a  memorandum 
endorsed  to  the  effect,  "  that  the  original  book  was 
burned  April,  1800,"  and  "  that  a  copy  of  the  pro 
ceedings  was  sent  to  Hugh  Williamson,  in  New 
York,  then  writing  a  History  of  North  Carolina, 
and  that  a  copy  was  sent  to  General  W.  B,.  Davie." 
The  publication  gave  rise  to  considerable  discussion, 
both  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson  expressing 
doubts  as  to  the  genuineness  of  the  resolutions. 
Thereupon  the  depositions  of  a  number  of  the 
survivors  of  the  occasion  were  taken,  who  united  in 
the  fact  that  a  declaration  of  independence  was 
made  during  that  month  at  that  place,  some  fixing 
the  date  on  May  20.  After  a  search  the  copy  sent 
to  General  W.  K.  Davie  was  found,  and  on  it  a 
certificate  of  Mr.  Alexander  in  the  following  words  : 
"  It  may  be  worthy  of  notice  here  to  observe  that 
the  foregoing  statement,  though  fundamentally 
correct,  yet  may  not  literally  correspond  with  the 
original  record  of  the  transactions  of  said  delegation 
and  court  of  inquiry,  as  all  those  records  and 
papers  were  burned  with  the  house  on  April  6, 1800, 
but  previous  to  that  time  (1800)  a  full  copy  of  said 
records,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson, 


368  PATRICK  HENRY. 

then  of  New  York,  but  formerly  a  representative  in 
congress  from  this  State,  was  forwarded  to  him  by 
Colonel   William   Polk,  in  order  that  these  early 
transactions  might  fill  their  proper  place  in  a  history 
of  this  state  by  Dr.  Williamson  in  New  York."  l 
The  copy  sent  to  Dr.  Williamson  has  never  been 
found,  and  was  not  used  by  him  in  his  book,  which 
did  not  come  down  to  so  late  a  period.     No  contem 
poraneous  publication  or  record  of  these  resolutions 
has  been  found,  and  they  are  sought  to  be  estab 
lished  by  the  recollections  of  men  more  than  forty 
years  after  their  date,  and  chiefly  by  the  statements 
of  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  who  is  described  as  the 
secretary  of  the  meeting.     After  the  discussion  con 
cerning  them  had  progressed  for  years,  the  record  of 
a  meeting  of  the  County  Committee  at  the  same 
place  on  May  31,  eleven  days  later,  was  discovered 
in  the  South  Carolina  Gazette  of  June  13, 1775,  and 
the  New  York  Journal  of  June  29, 1775,  and  some 
other  papers  of  that  day.     The  resolutions  of  this 
meeting  have  the  following  preamble :  i(  Whereas 
by  an  address  of  Parliament  in  February  last  the 
American  colonies  are  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of 
actual  rebellion,  we  conceive  that  all  laws  and  com 
missions  confirmed  by  or  derived  from  the  authority 
of   the   King   and    Parliament   are   annulled    and 
vacated,  and  the  former  civil   constitution  of  these 
Colonies  for  the  present  wholly  suspended.     To  pro 
vide   in   some   degree   for   the    exigencies   of   this 
county  in  the  present  alarming  period,  we  deem  it 
proper  and  necessary  to  pass  the  following  resolves, 
viz."     Then  follow   twenty   resolves   providing    a 
very  complete  county  government.     The  eighteenth 

1  Wheeler's  Reminiscences  of  North  Carolina,  269. 


PROGRESS   OF  THE   REVOLUTION.         369 

resolution  is  in  these  words :  "  That  these  resolu 
tions  be  in  full  force  and  virtue  until  instructions 
from  the  Provincial  Congress  regulating  the  juris 
prudence  of  the  province  shall  provide  otherwise,  or 
the  legislative  body  of  Great  Britain  resign  its  un 
just  and  arbitrary  pretensions  with  respect  to 
America."  These  resolutions  while  establishing  a 
temporary  government  upon  the  ground  urged  by 
Mr.  Henry  in  the  Continental  Congress  of  1774,  ex 
pressly  negative  the  idea  of  absolute  and  irrevocable 
separation  from  Great  Britain.  They  were  there 
fore  inconsistent  with  the  resolves  said  to  have 
been  adopted  eleven  days  before,  and  the  conclusion 
seems  to  be  inevitable,  that  in  the  attempt  to  recall 
them  Mr.  Alexander  and  others  mistook  their  exact 
import  as  well  as  their  date,  or  gave  their  date  in  the 
old  style,  not  entirely  gone  out  of  use  in  1775,  by 
which  May  31,  would  have  been  written  May  20.1 
As  the  action  of  May  31,  was  published,  it  must  be 
taken  as  representing  the  position  of  the  county. 
This  view  is  made  conclusive  by  the  record  of  the 
contemporaneous  statements  of  four  at  least  of  the 
most  prominent  actors  on  the  occasion.  At  the 
North  Carolina  Provincial  Congress  which  met  Au 
gust  20,  1775,  Thomas  Polk,  John  Pfifer,  Waighstill 
Avery,  and  John  McKnitt  Alexander  were  among  the 
representatives  from  Mecklenburg  County.2  These 
were  described  as  active  in  the  meetings  of  the  pre 
ceding  May.  On  August  23,  they  with  the  other 
members  of  the  body  signed  a  test,  which  commences 
as  follows  :  "  We  the  subscribers,  professing  our  al- 

1  By  act  of  Parliament,  September,  1752,  the  change  from  Julian  to  Gre 
gorian   reckoning  was  made  ;  the  3d  of  the  month  called  the  14th,  and 
the  year  made  to  commence  January  1  instead  of  March  25,  as  before. 

2  Journal  in  American  Archives  (4th  Series),  Hi.,  183. 

24 


370  PATRICK   HENRY. 

legiance  to  the  King,  and  acknowledging  the  consti 
tutional  executive  power  of  Government." l 

On  September  4,  the  body  having  taken  into 
consideration  the  proposed  plan  of  a  General  Con 
federation  resolved,2  u  That  the  present  association 
ought  to  be  further  relied  on  for  bringing  about  a 
reconciliation  with  the  Parent  State,  and  a  further 
Confederacy  ought  only  to  be  adopted  in  case  of  the 
last  necessity." 

On  September  8,  the  body  unanimously  adopted 
an  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  British  Empire  3 
which  contains  the  following  language  : 

"  We  have  been  told  that  independence  is  our  ob 
ject  :  that  we  seek  to  shake  off  all  connection  with 
the  parent  state.  Cruel  suggestion  !  Do  not  all 
our  professions,  all  our  actions,  uniformly  contra 
dict  this  ?  We  again  declare,  and  we  invoke  that 
Almighty  Being  who  searches  the  recesses  of  the 
human  heart,  and  knows  our  most  secret  intentions, 
that  it  is  our  most  earnest  wish  and  prayer  to  be  re 
stored,  with  the  other  united  Colonies,  to  the  state  in 
which  we  and  they  were  placed  before  the  year 
1763.  .  .  .  Whenever  we  have  departed  from 
the  forms  of  the  constitution,  our  own  safety  and 
self-preservation  have  dictated  the  expedient ;  and 
if  in  any  instance  we  have  assumed  powers  which 
the  laws  invest  in  the  Sovereign,  or  his  representa 
tives,  it  has  been  in  defence  of  our  persons,  proper 
ties  and  those  rights  which  God,  and  the  constitu 
tion  have  made  inalienably  ours.  As  soon  as  the 
cause  of  our  fears  and  apprehensions  are  removed, 
with  joy  will  we  return  these  powers  to  their  regu 
lar  channels ;  and  such  institutions,  formed  from 

1  Journal  in  American  Archives  (4th  Series),  iii.,  187. 

2  Idem.,  iii.,  196.  3  Idem.,  iii.,  201. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    371 

mere  necessity,  shall  end  with  that  necessity  that 
created  them,"  etc. 

After  these  repeated  and  solemn  declarations  and 
acts  to  the  contrary,  it  does  violence  to  the  memory 
of  the  representatives  of  Mecklenburg  County  to 
represent  them  as  already  having  declared  indepen 
dence  ;  and  to  establish  such  a  declaration  would  be 
to  demonstrate  that  these  delegates  were  guilty  of 
shameful  falsehood,  and  were  unworthy  of  the  lib 
erty  they  risked  their  lives  to  establish. 

But  while  the  desire  of  the  Americans  was  uni 
versal  for  the  continuance  of  the  union  with  Great 
Britain  long  after  the  commencement  of  hostilities, 
it  was  the  conviction  of  intelligent  observers  in  Eu 
rope  and  America  that  the  necessary  result  of  the 
contest  would  be  independence,  or  subjugation. 
The  patriot  party  in  the  colonies  were  slow  in  com 
ing  to  this  conclusion,  till  forced  by  the  events  of 
the  winter  of  1775-6.;  but  in  the  spring  of  1776 
there  was  a  widespread  conviction  that  independence 
was  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  their  rights. 
The  determination  of  the  King  and  Parliament  to 
vigorously  prosecute  the  war,  followed  by  the  in 
tercepted  letter  of  Germaine  to  Governor  Eden,  of 
Maryland,  announcing  the  sailing  of  a  force  to  sub 
jugate  the  Southern  Colonies,  dispelled  all  reason 
able  hope  of  reconciliation ;  while  the  cruel  spirit  in 
which  the  war  was  prosecuted  completely  alienated 
the  Colonies  from  the  mother  country. 

The  altered  tone  of  the  press  indicated  the  change 
going  on  among  the  people.  This  change  was  pow 
erfully  aided  by  the  pamphlet  written  by  Thomas 
Paine,  called  "  Common  Sense,"  which  ran  rapidly 


372  PATRICK  HENRY. 

through  several  editions.  In  it  the  necessity  for  de 
claring  independence  was  urged  with  great  force, 
and  its  effect  upon  the  public  mind  was  something 
phenomenal.  But  there  were  serious  difficulties  in 
the  way.  The  progress  of  events  had  developed  the 
Tory  element  in  the  Colonies,  and  it  was  not  to  be 
despised  either  for  its  numbers  or  its  influence. 
The  proprietary  interest  in  the  Middle  Colonies 
feared  a  change  of  government,  and  united  with  the 
Tories  in  resisting  every  step  towards  independence. 
Many  patriots  who  were  convinced  of  the  propriety 
of  the  step,  were  of  opinion  that  the  time  had  not 
arrived  when  it  could  be  safely  taken.  No  confed 
eration  of  the  colonies  had  been  entered  into,  and  no 
foreign  alliances  had  been  assured. 

The  war  had  not  been  without  its  reverses,  and 
the  military  situation   was   critical.     The  brilliant 
campaign   of    Montgomery    in    Canada   had    been 
brought  to  a  disastrous  termination  upon  his  fall 
before  Quebec.     It  was  true  that  General   Howe, 
the  successor  of  Gage,  had  been  forced  by  Wash 
ington  to  abandon  Boston,  and  the  patriots  of  North 
Carolina  had  gained  a  signal  victory  over  the  Tories 
at  Moore's  Creek  Bridge  ;  but  the  British  were  con 
centrating  a  large  force  at  New  York,  and  Wash 
ington,  whose  army  had  been  greatly  reduced  by  the 
expiration  of  the  terms  of  enlistment  and  the  expe 
dition  into  Canada,  had  no  adequate  force  to  oppose 
them.     The  Congress,  called  on  to  conduct  a  war 
with  Great  Britain  while  professing  allegiance  to 
the  British  Crown,  had  been  embarrassed  in  all  of 
its  action,  and  had  failed  to  put  forth  that  prompt, 
vigorous  exertion  so  necessary  for   the  successful 
conduct  of  war.     They  attempted  to  keep  open  the 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    373 

door  for  reconciliation,  and  even  when  driven  by 
necessity  to  take  important  steps,  these  were  often 
injuriously  delayed,  and  some  matters  of  the  great 
est  importance  were  not  acted  on  at  all.  Thus  the 
advice  given  to  New  Hampshire,  South  Carolina, 
and  Virginia,  in  November  and  December,  1775,  to 
form  local  governments  in  the  place  of  the  royal 
authority,  which  had  been  abandoned  in  those  col 
onies,  limited  them  to  the  continuance  of  the  pre 
sent  disputes.  A  committee  to  seek  foreign  aid  was 
not  appointed  till  November  29,  1775.  The  advice 
to  disarm  all  Tories  was  given  March  14,  1776.  The 
authorization  of  privateers  was  given  March  23, 
1776,  and  the  proposal  of  Virginia  to  open  Ameri 
can  ports  to  all  nations  except  Great  Britain,  was 
discussed  from  January  12, 1776,  to  April  6,  when 
it  was  adopted.  The  urgent  request  of  Washing 
ton  to  raise  an  army  for  the  war  instead  of  depend 
ing  on  annual  enlistments,  was  not  acted  on,  and 
the  plan  of  confederation  introduced  by  Franklin 
shared  the  same  fate.  To  add  to  the  perplexity  of 
the  situation  the  rumor  was  spread,  that  a  commis 
sion  would  be  sent  by  the  Ministry  to  treat  with  the 
Colonies,  and  offer  them  satisfactory  terms. 

But  the  difficulties  which  surrounded  the  American 
patriots  only  served  to  arouse  them  the  more,  and  in 
no  colony  was  there  a  finer  spirit  than  in  Virginia. 
In  the  elections  for  the  Convention  to  meet  in  May 
the  candidates  were  required  to  pledge  themselves 
for  independence,  and,  as  before,  many  counties  in 
structed  their  delegates  as  to  their  wishes.  The 
earliest  of  these  instructions  for  independence 
which  were  published,  was  from  the  county  of 
Charlotte,  April  23,  1776,  a  county  which  Mr. 


374  PATRICK  HENRY. 

Henry  afterwards  made  his  home.  As  an  indication 
of  the  spirit  of  the  people,  this  remarkable  paper  is 
well  worthy  of  preservation.  It  is  as  follows  : 

To  Paul  Carrington,  and  Thomas  Read,  JEsq*s. : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  When  we  consider  the  despotick 
plan  adopted  by  the  King,  Ministry  and  Parliament 
of  Great  Britain,  insidiously  pursued  for  these 
twelve  years  past,  to  enslave  America  /  when  we 
consider  that  they  have  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  re 
peated  petitions  and  remonstrances  of  this  and  our 
sister  Colonies,  and  that  they  have  been  equally  in 
attentive  to  the  rights  of  freemen  and  the  British 
Constitution  ;  and  when  we  consider  that  they  have 
for  some  time  been  endeavouring  to  enforce  their 
arbitrary  mandates  by  fire  and  sword,  and  likewise 
encouraging,  by  every  means  in  their  power,  our 
savage  neighbours,  and  our  more  savage  dornesticks, 
to  spill  the  blood  of  our  wives  and  children ;  and 
to  crown  the  whole,  they  have  added  insult  to  their 
injustice  and  cruelty,  by  repeatedly  pretending  to 
hold  out  the  olive  branch  of  peace  in  such  a  way 
as  teacheth  us  that  they  are  determined  to  persist 
in  their  hellish  designs,  and  that  nothing  is  intended 
for  us  but  the  most  abject  slavery;  of  this  we  can 
no  longer  doubt,  since  we  have  been  made  ac 
quainted  with  a  late  letter  from  the  Secretary  of 
State  to  Governour  Eden,  and  the  late  act  of  Parlia 
ment  for  seizing  and  confiscating  all  our  ships  and 
property  that  may  fall  into  their  hands : 

"  Therefore  despairing  of  any  redress  of  our 
grievances  from  the  King  and  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  and  all  hopes  of  a  reconciliation  between 
her  and  the  United  Colonies  being  now  at  an  end, 
and  being  conscious  that  their  treatment  has  been 
such  as  loyal  subjects  did  not  deserve,  and  to 
which  as  freemen,  we  are  determined  not  to  submit ; 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    375 

by  the  unanimous  approbation  and  direction  of  the 
whole  freeholders,  and  all  the  other  inhabitants  of 
this  County,  we  advise  and  instruct  you,  cheerfully 
to  concur  and  give  your  best  assistance  in  our  Con 
vention,  to  push  to  the  utmost  a  war  offensive  and 
defensive  until  you  are  certified  that  such  proposals 
of  peace  are  made  to  our  General  Congress  as  shall 
by  them  be  judged  just  and  friendly.  And  because 
the  advantages  of  a  trade  will  better  enable  us  to 
pay  the  taxes,  and  procure  the  necessaries  for  carry 
ing  on  a  war,  and  in  our  present  circumstances  this 
cannot  be  had  without  a  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence  ;  therefore  if  no  such  proposals  of  peace  shall 
be  made,  we  judge  it  to  be  a  dictate  of  the  first  law 
of  nature,  to  continue  to  oppose  every  attempt  on 
our  lives  and  properties ;  and  we  give  it  you  in 
charge,  to  use  your  best  endeavours  that  the  Dele 
gates  which  are  sent  to  the  General  Congress  be  in 
structed  immediately  to  cast  off  the  JBritisli  yoke, 
and  to  enter  into  a  commercial  alliance  with  any 
nation  or  nations  friendly  to  our  cause.  And  as 
King  George  the  Third  of  Great  Britain  <fec.,  has 
manifested  deliberate  enmity  towards  us,  and  under 
the  character  of  a  parent  persists  in  behaving  as  a 
tyrant,  that  they,  in  our  behalf  renounce  allegiance 
to  him  for  ever;  and  that,  taking  the  God  of 
Heaven  to  be  our  King,  and  depending  upon  His 
protection  and  assistance,  they  plan  out  that  form 
of  Government  which  may  the  more  effectually  se 
cure  to  us  the  enjoyment  of  our  civil  and  religious 
rights  and  privileges,  to  the  latest  posterity. 

"  In  all  other  things,  gentlemen,  that  may  come 
before  you  in  Convention,  we  rely  upon  your  known 
fidelity  and  zeal;  resolving  and  giving  you  our 
faith,  that  we  will  at  the  risk  of  our  lives  and  for 
tunes,  to  the  utmost  of  our  abilities,  support  and 
defend  you,  our  country  and  our  sister  Colonies,  in 
the  glorious  cause  in  which  we  are  now  engaged." 


376  PATRICK  HENRY. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  above  Resolves  be  published 
in  the  Virginia  Gazette. 

"  By  order  :  William  Jameson,  Clerk." 

Mr.  Henry  was  returned  as  one  of  the  delegates 
from  the  county  of  Hanover,  and  all  eyes  were  at 
once  turned  to  him  as  the  destined  leader  of  the 
body.  Among  the  letters  he  received  showing  that 
his  countrymen  were  looking  to  him  for  wise  coun 
sel  in  this  great  crisis,  the  following  will  be  read 
with  interest.  The  first  is  from  the  Italian  neigh 
bor  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  written  during  the  session  of 
the  Convention. 

"CoLLE  June  26th  177G. 

"  MOST  NOBLE  PATRIOT,  I  call  you  by  your  name. 
Henry  came  by  chance  ;  Patrick  was  given  with  no 
more  reason,  than  John  or  Richard  would  ;  sir,  and 
other  titles  are  words  without  meaning ;  but  that  is 
a  name  you  have  acquired.  It  is  due  to  you.  Per 
mit  me  then  to  call  you  by  that,  and  no  other. 

"  As  soon  as  you  promised  me,  that  you  would  go 
from  the  military  into  your  place  (the  senate)  my 
heart  was  filled  with  joy,  because  I  knew  you,  &,  in 
consequence  I  was  certain  that  you  would  do  it. 
Our  noble  friends,  Mr  John  Page  of  Roswell  &  Mr. 
Jefferson,  whom  I  thought  my  duty  to  inform  of 
your  determination,  joined  with  me  in  opinion,  &> 
you  will  own  that  they  deserved  to  partake  of  my 
joy,  as  they  had  heartly  partook  of  my  uneasiness 
on  account  of  your  absence  from  it.  They  knew 
the  necessity  of  your  being  where  you  are ;  they 
foresaw  the  calamities,  to  which  we  would  have  been 
reduced  for  the  want  of  such  a  man  as  you  in  the 
senate  at  this  jointure.  But  every  sensible  man  saw 
it,  although  I  was  perhaps  the  only  one,  who  did 
dare  to  awake  you,  &  to  prove  to  you  that  modesty 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    377 

in  your  case  was  a  crime.  Now  I  am  easy.  You  are 
there  ;  I  fear  nothing.  In  my  private  capacity  I 
have  endeavoured  to  do  all  in  my  power  towards  the 
Public  welfare.  I  had  prepared  some  instructions 
for  this  county,  but  as  you  have  practised  law  here  I 
don't  need  to  tell  you,  that  we  have  a  certain  clan 
who  put  themselves  in  the  way  to  every  good  thing, 
least  the  promoter  of  it  should  acquire  part  of  that 
influence,  which  they  have  totally  engrossed  to 
themselves.  I  assure  you  that  I  have  not  been  in 
sensible  to  such  infamous  proceedings ;  but  I  could 
do  nothing.  I  am  intirely  in  obscurity.  I  would  have 
disregarded  the  whole  at  any  other  time.  Now  I 
cannot  be  insensible,  because  I  see  that  I  could  have 
been  of  some  real  service,  had  not  shamefull  jeal 
ousy  throughn  obstacles  in  my  way.  I  have  sent  to 
Mr  John  Page  a  copy  of  the  instructions  I  had  pre 
pared  with  the  justification  of  the  sentiments  therein 
contained  &  some  reflections  upon  the  English  con 
stitution,  endeavoring  to  prove  the  weak  basis  & 
heavy  errors  of  it,  my  idea  in  regard  to  the  nature 
of  the  best  Government  which  may  be  easily  estab 
lished  by  us,  an  opportunity  that  no  People  (by 
what  we  know  from  histories)  ever  had  before.  I 
have  desired  Mr  Page  to  have  them  corrected  &,  im 
proved,  and  afterwards  published.  Would  you  do 
me  the  friendly  favour  of  perusing  them,  and  be 
stow  your  advice  upon  them  before  they  are 
printed.  Your  time  is  precious,  I  know,  but  I  hope 
you  will  spare  as  much  as  that  on  a  subject  that 
may  perhaps  be  still  of  some  advantage,  &  to  do 
honour  to  the  sentiments  of  a  man,  who  is  intirely 
equal  to  you  in  regard  to  Patriotism,  although  in- 
feriour  in  point  of  abilities.  I  should  be  proud  of 
an  answer  from  you  with  your  opinions  upon  my 
performances ;  &  if  it  was  such,  that  I  could  show 
without  hurting  my  modesty,  or  pride,  it  would 
answer  2  purposes :  one  private,  the  other  public. 


378  PATRICK   HENRY. 

It  is  certain,  that  it  would  be  of  a  great  advantage 
to  this  county,  that  somebody  could  acquire  consid 
eration  enough  as  to  oppose  the  intrigues  of  the  ina- 
litious  old  fox  &  all  his  clan ;  because  the  only  able 
virtuous  man  we  have,  is  quite  in  the  dark  of  it,  & 
often  is  rendered,  without  perceiving  it  in  the  least, 
subservient  to  their  views.  I  hope  you  will  excuse 
the  liberty  I  take,  &  as  to  the  stile  my  ignorance  of 
the  language  must  serve  as  an  apology.  What  is 
certain,  &  in  what  I  may  perhaps  want  expressions  to 
signify  my  feelings,  is,  that  I  love,  admire,  <fe  re 
vere  you,  as  one  of  the  most  virtuous  and  noble 
spirited  men  of  the  age,  no  way  inferior  to  an  an 
cient  Roman  Hero.  I  have  the  honor  to  be  with 
respect  and  esteem,  Most  noble  patriot, 

u  Your  most  obedient  &>  Most  humble  servant. 

"  PHILIP  MAZZEI." 

To  PATRICK  HENRY,  JUNR  ESQR 


Richard  Henry  Lee,  with  a  full  appreciation  of 
Mr.  Henry's  influence,  wrote  to  him  from  Phila 
delphia  his  views,  and  ably  presented  the  arguments 
for  an  immediate  declaration  of  independence,  in  the 
following  noble  letter : 

"PHILADELPHIA  20th  April  1776. 

"  DEAK  SIK  :  Having  done  myself  the  pleasure  of 
writing  to  you  by  General  Lee  I  must  now  refer  you 
to  that  letter,  and  at  present  invite  your  attention 
to  the  most  important  concerns  of  our  approaching 
convention.  Ages  yet  unborn,  and  millions  existing 
at  present,  must  rue  or  bless  that  Assembly,  on 
which  their  happiness  or  misery  will  so  eminently 
depend.  Virginia  has  hitherto  taken  the  lead  in 
great  affairs,  and  many  now  look  to  her  with  anx 
ious  expectation,  hoping  that  the  spirit,  wisdom,  and 
energy  of  her  councils,  will  rouse  America  from  the 


PROGRESS   OF  THE   REVOLUTION.         379 

fatal  lethargy  into  which  the  feebleness,  foil}7",  and 
interested  views  of  the  Proprietary  governments, 
with  the  aid  of  Tory  machinations,  have  thrown  her 
most  unhappily.  The  12  years  experience  we  have 
had  of  the  perfidy  and  despotic  intentions  of  the 
British  Court  is  still  further  demonstrated  by  the 
King's  speech,  by  the  express  declaration  of  every 
Ministerial  Man  in  both  houses  of  Parliament,  by 
their  infamous  retrospective  robbery  Act,  and  by  the 
intercepted  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  State  to  Gov 
ernor  Eden.  All  join  in  proving  the  design  of  the 
British  Court  to  subdue  at  every  event,  and  to  en 
slave  America  after  having  destroyed  its  best  Mem 
bers.  The  act  of  Parliament  has  to  every  legal 
intent  and  purpose  dissolved  our  government,  un 
commissioned  every  magistrate,  and  placed  us  in  the 
high  road  to  Anarchy.  In  Virginia  we  have  cer 
tainly  no  Magistrate  lawfully  qualified  to  hang  a 
murderer,  or  any  other  villain  offending  ever  so 
atrociously  against  the  state.  We  cannot  be  Reb 
els  excluded  from  the  King's  protection  and  Magis 
trates  acting  under  his  authority  at  the  same  time. 
This  proves  the  indispensable  necessity  of  our  tak 
ing  up  government  immediately,  for  the  preservation 
of  Society,  to  effect  the  purpose  of  applying  with 
vigor  the  strength  of  the  country  to  its  present  critical 
state ;  and  above  all  to  set  an  example  which  N. 
Carolina,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  N.  York  will 
most  assuredly,  in  my  opinion,  follow  ;  and  which 
will  effectually  remove  the  baneful  influence  of  Pro 
prietary  interests  from  the  councils  of  America. 
When  this  is  done,  give  peremptory  instructions  to 
your  Delegates  to  take  every  effectual  step  to  secure 
America  from  the  despotic  aims  of  the  British  Court 
by  Treaties  of  alliance  with  foreign  States,  or  by 
any  means  that  shall  be  thought  most  conducive  to 
that  end.  A  slight  attention  to  the  late  proceedings 
of  many  European  Courts  will  sufficiently  evince  the 


380  PATRICK   HENRY. 

spirit  of  partition,  and  the  assumed  right  of  dispos 
ing  of  Men  <fc  Countries  like  live  stock  on  a  farm, 
that  distinguishes  this  corrupt  age.  St.  Domingo, 
Lousiana,  Corsica,  <fe  Poland  indisputably  prove 
this.  Now  Sir,  I  leave  it  with  you  to  judge, 
whether,  whilst  we  are  hesitating  about  forming  al 
liance,  Great  Britain  may  not,  and  probably  will 
not,  seal  our  ruin  by  signing  a  Treaty  of  partition 
with  two  or  three  ambitious  powers  that  may  aid 
in  conquering  us — Upon  principles  of  interest  and 
revenge  they  surely  will.  When  G.  B.  finds  she 
cannot  conquer  us  alone,  and  that  the  whole  must 
be  lost,  will  she  not  rather  choose  a  part  than  have 
none  ?  Certainly  she  will,  and  to  gain  the  necessary 
aid  give  up  a  part,  and  thus  involve  us  unaided,  un 
assisted,  in  a  very  unequal  destructive  contest  with 
three  or  4  of  the  greatest  states  in  Europe.  Nothing 
in  this  world  is  more  certain  than  that  the  present 
Court  of  London  would  rather  rule  despotically  a 
single  rod  of  earth,  than  govern  the  world  under 
legal  limitations.  All  this  danger  however  may  be 
prevented  by  a  timely  alliance  with  proper  and  will 
ing  powers  in  Europe — Indeed  we  are  a  singular  in 
stances  in  modern  times  of  a  people  engaged  in  war 
with  a  powerful  Nation,  without  taking  steps  to  se 
cure  the  friendship  or  even  neutrality,  of  foreign 
states — leaving  to  our  enemies  the  full  opportunity 
of  engaging  all.  And  we  know  with  certainty  that 
every  maritime  state  in  Europe  has  been  interceded 
with  not  to  supply  us  with  military  stores,  and  many 
states  have  been  applied  to  for  troops  to  destroy  us, 
as  Russia,  Hesse,  Hanover  and  Holland.  Is  it  not 
the  most  dreadful  infatuation  in  us  to  remain  quiet 
in  this  way  and  stir  not  until  it  is  too  late  ?  But 
no  State  in  Europe  will  either  Treat  or  Trade  with 
us  so  long  as  we  consider  ourselves  Subjects  of  G. 
B.  Honor,  dignity,  and  the  customs  of  states  for 
bid  them  until  we  take  rank  as  an  independant  peo- 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    381 

pie.  The  war  cannot  long  be  prosecuted  without 
Trade,  nor  can  Taxes  be  paid  until  we  are  enabled  to 
sell  our  produce,  which  cannot  be  the  case  without 
the  help  of  foreign  ships,  whilst  our  enemy's  navy  is 
so  superior  to  ours.  A  contraband  sloop  or  so  may 
come  from  foreign  parts,  but  no  authorised,  and  con 
sequently  sufficiently  extensive  Trade  will  be  carried 
on  with  us  whilst  we  remain  in  our  present  unde 
fined  unmeaning  condition.  Our  clearest  interest 
therefore,  our  very  existance  as  freemen,  requires 
that  we  take  decisive  steps  now,  whilst  we  may,  for 
the  security  of  America.  It  is  most  fortunate  for  us 
that  the  present  quit-rent  revenue,  with  the  impost 
on  Tob°  &  Tonnage  will  do  more  than  defray  all  our 
expences  of  Civil  government  without  fresh  Taxes  on 
the  people,  and  the  unappropriated  lands  will  pay 
the  expences  of  the  war. 

"  The  inclosed  pamphlet  on  Government  is  the  pro 
duction  of  our  friend  John  Adams.  It  is  sensible 
and  shows  the  virtue  of  the  man,  at  the  same  time 
that  it  proves  the  business  of  framing  government 
not  to  be  so  difficult  a  thing  as  most  people  imagine. 
The  small  scheme  printed  in  hand  bill  I  had  written 
before  I  saw  this  work  of  Mr.  Adams,  and  he  agrees 
that  the  Council  of  State  had  better  be  a  distinct 
body  from  the  Upper  house  of  Assembly,  meaning 
the  upper  house;  their  duration  indeed  may  be  too 
long,  but  it  should  be  for  a  longer  term  than  the 
lower  house,  in  order  to  answer  the  purpose  of  an 
independant  middle  power.  The  sheriffs  had  better 
I  think  be  appointed  as  now  in  Virginia,  or  by  choice 
of  the  freeholders  in  each  county. 

aThe  recommendation  of  congress  about  taking 
Government  is,  as  you  see,  of  old  date,  and  there 
fore  it  is  said  during  the  continuance  of  the  present 
disputes.  But  it  matters  not  much,  for  the  Govern 
ment  taken  up  ought  to  be  the  best,  whether  it  be 
for  this,  that,  or  another  term  of  years.  This  I 


382  PATRICK  HENRY. 

take  to  be  the  time  and  thing  meant  by  Shake 
speare  when  he  says, 

'  There  is  a  Tide  in  the  Affairs  of  Men 
Which  taken  at  the  Flood  leads  on  to  Fortune — 
That  omitted,  we  are  ever  after  bound  in  Shallows,'  &c. 

Let  us  therefore,  quitting  every  other  consideration, 
heartily  unite  in  leading  our  countrymen  to  em 
brace  the  " 1 

Mr.  Henry  was  in  full  accord  with  these  views, 
and  was  so  impressed  with  the  importance  of  an 
immediate  alliance  with  France,  that  he  urged  the 
sending  of  ambassadors  at  once  to  the  French  court, 
empowered  to  offer  American  commerce  as  an  in 
ducement  to  French  aid.  And  in  order  to  send  em- 
bassadors  with  proper  authority  to  represent  the 
United  States,  he  insisted  on  Congress  at  once 
adopting  articles  of  confederation  confined  to  pur 
poses  offensive  and  defensive.  He  doubted  the  wis 
dom  of  making  public  a  declaration  of  independ 
ence,  till  the  confederation  was  adopted  by  Congress, 
and  the  embassadors  were  dispatched,  as  he  feared 
that  Great  Britain  would,  on  hearing  of  it,  at  once 
endeavor  to  anticipate  the  Americans  at  the  French 
Court.  On  arriving  at  William sburg  he  met  Gen 
eral  Charles  Lee,  who  had  been  sent  to  command 
the  Southern  Department,  and  was  eager  for  an 
immediate  open  declaration.  He  mentioned  to  him 
his  views  of  the  proper  order  in  which  this  all-im 
portant  matter  should  be  conducted,  and  this  impul 
sive  man,  misconstruing  his  position  in  a  measure, 
wrote  him  on  the  next  day  the  following  letter : 

1  The  remainder  is  lost  from  the  MS. 


PROGRESS   OF  THE   REVOLUTION.         383 


"  WILLIAMSBURGH,  May  7th,  1776. 

"  DEAK  SIR  :  If  I  had  not  the  highest  opinion  of 
your  character  and  liberal  way  of  thinking,  I  should 
not  venture  to  address  myself  to  you.  And  if  I 
were  not  equally  persuaded  of  the  great  weight  and 
influence  which  the  transcendent  abilities  you  pos 
sess  must  naturally  confer,  I  should  not  give  myself 
the  trouble  of  writing,  nor  you  the  trouble  of  read 
ing  this  long  letter.  Since  our  conversation  yester 
day,  my  thoughts  have  been  solely  employed  on 
the  great  question  whether  Independence  ought  or 
ought  not  to  be  immediately  declared.  Having 
weighed  the  argument  on  both  sides,  I  am  clearly 
of  the  opinion  that  we  must,  as  we  value  the  liber 
ties  of  America,  or  even  her  existence,  without  a 
moment's  delay  declare  for  Independence.  If  my 
reasons  appear  weak,  you  will  excuse  them  for  the 
disinterestedness  of  the  author,  as  I  may  venture  to 
affirm,  that  no  man  on  this  Continent  will  sacrifice 
more  than  myself  by  the  separation.  But  if  I  have 
the  good  fortune  to  offer  any  arguments  which  have 
escaped  your  understanding,  and  they  should  make 
the  desired  impressions,  I  think  I  shall  have  ren 
dered  the  greatest  service  to  the  community. 

"  The  objection  you  made  yesterday,  if  I  under 
stood  you  rightly,  to  an  immediate  Declaration, 
was,  by  many  degrees  the  most  specious  ;  indeed,  it 
is  the  only  tolerable  one  that  I  have  yet  heard. 
You  say,  and  with  great  justice,  that  we  ought 
previously  to  have  felt  the  pulse  of  France  and 
Spain.  I  more  than  believe,  I  am  almost  confident, 
that  it  has  been  done  ;  at  least  I  can  assert  upon 
recollection,  that  some  of  the  Committee  of  Secrecy 
have  assured  me  that  the  sentiments  of  both  these 
Courts,  or  their  agents,  had  been  sounded,  and  were 
found  to  be  as  favorable  as  could  be  wished.  But 
admitting  that  we  are  utter  strangers  to  their  senti- 


384  PATRICK  HENRY. 

ments  on  the  subject,  and  that  we  run  some  risk  of 
this  Declaration  being  coldly  received  by  these 
Powers,  such  is  our  situation  that  the  risk  must  be 
ventured. 

"  On  one  side  there  are  the  most  probable  chances 
of  our  success,  founded  on  the  certain  advantages 
which  must  manifest  themselves  to  French  under 
standings  by  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  America. 
The  strength  and  weakness,  the  opulence  and  pov 
erty  of  every  State  are  estimated  in  the  scale  of 
comparison  with  her  immediate  rival.  The  superior 
commerce  and  marine  force  of  England  were  evi 
dently  established  on  the  monopoly  of  her  American 
trade.  The  inferiority  of  France  in  these  two  capi 
tal  points,  consequently,  had  its  source  in  the  same 
origin.  Any  deduction  from  the  monopoly  must 
bring  down  her  rival  in  proportion  to  this  deduc 
tion. 

"  The  French  are,  and  always  have  been,  sensible 
of  these  great  truths.  Your  idea,  that  they  may  be 
diverted  from  a  line  of  policy  which  assures  them 
such  immense  and  permanent  advantages  by  an  offer 
of  partition  from  Great  Britain,  appears  to  me,  if 
you  will  excuse  the  phrase,  an  absolute  chimera. 
They  must  be  wretched  politicians,  indeed,  if  they 
would  prefer  the  uncertain  acquisition,  and  the  pre 
carious  expensive  possession  of  one  or  two  Provinces, 
to  the  greater  part  of  the  Commerce  of  the  whole. 
Besides,  were  not  the  advantages  from  the  latter  so 
manifestly  greater  than  those  that  would  accrue 
from  the  imagined  partition  scheme,  it  is  notorious 
that  acquisition  of  territory,  or  even  Colonial  pos 
sessions,  which  require  either  men  or  money  to  re 
tain,  are  entirely  repugnant  to  the  spirit  and  prin 
ciples  of  the  present  French  Court.  It  is  so 
repugnant,  indeed,  that  it  is  most  certain  they  have 
lately  entertained  thoughts  of  abandoning  their 
West  India  Islands.  Le  commerce  et  Veconomie,  are 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.    385 

the  cry  down  from  the  King  to  the  lowest  Minister, 
From  these  considerations,  I  am  convinced  that  they 
will  immediately  and  essentially  assist  us  if  Inde 
pendence  is  declared.  But  allowing  that  there  can 
be  no  certainty,  but  mere  chances  in  our  favour,  I 
do  insist  upon  it  that  these  chances  render  it  our 
duty  to  adopt  the  measure,  as  by  procrastination 
our  ruin  is  inevitable.  Should  it  now  be  deter 
mined  to  wait  the  result  of  a  formal  negotiation 
with  France,  a  whole  year  must  pass  over  our  heads 
before  we  can  be  acquainted  with  the  result.  In 
the  mean  time  we  are  to  struggle  through  a  cam 
paign,  without  arms,  ammunitions,  or  any  one  neces 
sary  of  war.  Disgrace  and  defeat  will  infallibly 
ensue,  the  soldiers  and  officers  will  become  so  dis 
appointed  that  they  will  abandon  their  colours, 
and  probably  never  be  persuaded  to  make  another 
effort. 

"  But  there  is  another  consideration  still  more 
cogent.  I  can  assure  you  that  the  spirit  of  the 
people  cries  out  for  this  Declaration ;  the  military, 
in  particular,  men  and  officers,  are  outrageous  on 
the  subject,  and  a  man  of  your  excellent  discern 
ment  need  not  be  told  how  dangerous  it  would  be 
in  our  present  circumstances,  to  dally  with  the 
spirit,  or  disappoint  the  expectations  of  the  bulk  of 
the  people.  May  not  despair,  anarchy,  and  finally 
submission,  be  the  bitter  fruits  ?  I  am  firmly  per 
suaded  that  they  will ;  and,  in  this  persuasion,  I 
most  devoutly  pray,  that  you  may  not  merely  rec 
ommend,  but  positively  lay  injunctions,  on  your 
servants  in  Congress  to  embrace  a  measure  so  neces 
sary  to  our  salvation. 

"  Yours,  most  sincerely, 

"  CHARLES  LEE." 

Mr.  Henry's  own  statement  of  his  position  ap 
pears  in  his  reply  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  dated 


386  PATRICK   HENRY. 

May  20,  1776,1  and  a  letter  written  to  John  Adams 
on  the  same  day.2 

The  information  as  to  the  disposition  of  the 
French  court,  given  in  the  letter  to  General  Lee, 
was  doubtless  derived  from  M.  de  Bouvouloir,  the 
secret  agent  of  the  French  minister  Vergennes,  who 
appeared  in  Philadelphia  in  January,  1776,  and  as 
sured  the  Secret  Committee  of  the  disposition  of 
France  to  aid  the  Colonies.3  That  Committee  may 
have  had  like  assurances  also  from  Spain.  The  let 
ter  of  General  Lee  was  evidently  the  first  informa 
tion  on  this  important  subject  conveyed  to  Mr. 
Henry.  It  removed  from  his  mind  a  burden  of 
anxiety,  as  it  was  an  assurance  that  his  early  pre 
diction  that  these  nations  would  come  to  the  aid  of 
the  Colonies,  would  be  verified. 

1  See  post,  p.  410.  -  See  post,  p.  412. 

3Dewitt's  Jefferson  and  the  American  Democracy,  388. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

VIRGINIA  CONVENTION.— INDEPENDENCE.— 1776. 

Character  of  Members. — James  Madison  and  Edmund  Randolph 
Enter  Public  Life. — Patrick  Henry  Leads  the  Convention.— 
Arranges  for  General  Thomas  Nelson  to  Move  Independence. — 
Supports  the  Resolution  with  Overpowering  Eloquence. — His 
tory  of  the  Motion  in  the  Convention. — Opposition  of  Robert 
Carter  Nicholas. — Public  Demonstrations  of  Joy  by  the  Army 
and  People  of  Williamsburg. — Hearty  Approval  Throughout 
America. — The  Virginia  Resolutions  in  Congress. — Declaration 
of  Independence. — Articles  of  Confederation. 

THE  Convention  met  in  Williamsburg  May  6,  1776, 
and  entered  upon  a  session  which  will  be  ever  mem 
orable  in  the  annals  of  history.  Many  new  mem 
bers  appeared,  but  nearly  all  of  the  old  and  tried 
leaders  had  been  returned  by  their  constituencies. 
Among  the  new  members  there  were  some  of  great 
ability,  destined  to  leave  their  impress  upon  the  in 
stitutions  of  their  country.  Foremost  among  these 
was  James  Madison,  who  appeared  as  a  delegate 
from  Orange  County.  He  was  just  twenty -five 
years  of  age,  and  had  been  only  four  years  from 
Princeton  College,  where  he  had  been  a  distin 
guished  scholar.  His  pale  face  and  delicate  form 
still  betokened  the  student.  His  modesty  kept  him 
from  mingling  in  the  debates  of  the  body,  but  no 
one  who  once  engaged  him  in  conversation  could  for 
a  moment  doubt  his  extraordinary  powers  of  mind, 
or  fail  to  appreciate  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  his 
information.  His  powers  of  analysis  and  of  criticism 


388  PATRICK  HENRY. 

were  already  developed,  and  it  was  said  of  him  by 
one l  who  was  his  fellow-member,  and  has  described 
him  as  he  appeared  in  the  body,  "  While  he  thrilled 
with  the  ecstasies  of  Henry's  eloquence,  and  ex 
tolled  his  skill  in  commanding  the  audience,  he  de 
tected  what  might  be  faulty  in  his  reasoning." 

In  after-years  he  became  not  only  one  of  the 
greatest  of  American  statesmen,  but  the  most  for 
midable  antagonist  in  debate  that  Mr.  Henry  ever 
encountered. 

The  town  of  William sburg  had  sent,  as  the  al 
ternate  of  Wythe  who  was  in  attendance  on  the 
Continental  Congress,  Edmund  Randolph,  in  the 
twenty-third  year  of  his  age.  He  was  of  distin 
guished  lineage,  tall  in  stature,  graceful  in  manners, 
and  scholarly  in  his  utterances.  He  had  months 
before  parted  company  with  his  father,  John  Ran 
dolph,  the  Attorney-general  of  the  Colony,  who  had 
sailed  for  England,  a  determined  Tory,  while  the 
son,  an  ardent  patriot,  had  repaired  to  the  camp  of 
Washington.  A  brilliant  and  effective  speaker,  he 
was  to  be  a  leader  in  deliberative  bodies,  and  to  be 
the  recipient  of  high  honors  at  the  hands  of  his 
countrymen.  Both  he  and  Madison  were  now  to 
receive  their  first  lesson  in  practical  statesmanship, 
a  lesson  so  well  improved  that  their  names  will  ever 
be  remembered,  interwoven  as  they  have  been  in  the 
warp  and  woof  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  The 
Convention,  before  adjournment,  paid  young  Ran 
dolph  the  fitting  compliment  of  giving  him  the 
important  office  of  Attorney-General,  held  by  his 
father  when  he  abandoned  the  Colony. 

Edmund  Penclleton   had   presided  over  the  last 

1  Edmund  Randolph  in  his  MS.  History  of  Virginia. 


VIRGINIA  CONVENTION.— INDEPENDENCE.     389 

Convention  with  great  dignity,  and  it  was  the  desire 
of  his  friends  that  he  should  be  again  honored  with 
the  position  of  Speaker.  He  was  put  in  nomination 
by  the  venerable  Richard  Bland,  who  was  seconded 
by  Archibald  Gary.  The  well-known  agency  of 
Pendleton,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
in  driving  Mr.  Henry  from  the  military  service,  pre 
vented  his  election  from  being  without  opposition. 

Thomas  Ludwell  Lee  was  put  in  nomination  by 
Thomas  Johnson,  of  Louisa,  the  county  which  first 
sent  Mr.  Henry  into  public  service,  and  he  was  sec 
onded  by  Bartholomew  Dandridge,  the  brother-in- 
law  of  Washington.  That  this  opposition  was 
against  the  wishes  of  Mr.  Henry  is  quite  certain, 
from  what  occurred  afterward.  Indeed,  he  never 
allowed  his  private  grievances  to  interfere  with  the 
public  service,  and  he  well  knew  the  importance  of 
perfect  harmony  in  the  grave  matters  to  be  consid 
ered  by  the  body.  Although  he  could  doubtless 
have  defeated  Pendleton,  he  allowed  him  to  be 
elected,  and  we  soon  find  them  working  together  in 
the  important  business  of  the  Convention.  Mr. 
Henry  was  placed  upon  the  Committee  of  Privileges 
and  Elections,  and  of  Propositions  and  Grievances, 
and  seems  to  have  acted  as  chairman  of  this  last  in 
making  its  numerous  reports,  although  his  name  ap 
pears  second  in  the  appointment.  He  was  also  a 
member  of  a  committee  raised  on  May  7,  to  pre 
pare  an  ordinance  to  encourage  the  making  of  salt, 
saltpetre,  and  gunpowder. 

At  no  period  of  his  life  did  Mr.  Henry  display 
his  consummate  powers  as  a  leader  to  more  advan 
tage  than  now.  He  thoroughly  informed  himself  of 
the  temper  of  the  people  as  displayed  in  their  dele- 


390  PATRICK   HENRY. 

gates,  and  set  himself  at  work  to  harmonize  the  va 
rious  interests  in  the  body,  so  as  to  attain,  as  far  as 
possible,  unanimity  in  their  action  on  the  overshad 
owing  question  of  independence.  General  Charles 
Lee  wrote  to  General  Washington,  May  10  : 1  "A 
noble  spirit  possesses  the  convention.  They  are  al 
most  unanimous  for  independence,  but  differ  in  their 
sentiments  about  the  mode ;  two  days  will  decide 
it."  Colonel  John  A.  Washington  wrote  May  11, 
to  Richard  Henry  Lee,2  for  whom  he  was  alternate  : 
"  I  hardly  think  the  grand  question  will  come  on 
before  Tuesday  next.  .  .  .  When  it  does  there 
will  be  much  altercation,  but  I  believe  no  danger 
but  that  we  shall  determine  upon  taking  up  Gov 
ernment,  but  whether  they  may  be  so  explicit  as  I 
could  wish  in  their  instructions  to  our  delegates  I 
cannot  determine,  but  hope  there  is  no  great  dan- 
ger." 

On  the  day  after  the  Convention  met  they  fixed 
on  the  10th,  to  go  into  Committee  of  the  Whole  to 
consider  the  state  of  the  Colony,  but  on  the  9th,  a 
resolution  was  introduced,  which  was  discussed 
several  days  before  adoption,  for  removing  from 
Norfolk  and  Princess  Anne  Counties  the  male  ne 
groes  over  thirteen,  together  with  disaffected  whites, 
and  all  surplus  provisions ;  and  on  the  next  day,  on 
a  letter  from  General  Lee,  the  question  of  sending 
troops  to  the  assistance  of  North  Carolina  was  taken 
up,  and  determined  by  ordering  that  1,300  men  b§ 
raised  immediately  for  that  purpose. 

It  was  May  14  before  the  Convention  was  able 

1  American  Archives  (4th  Series),  vi.,  406. 

2  See  letter  in  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  November,  1858,  p. 
329. 


VIRGINIA  CONVENTION.— INDEPENDENCE.     391 

to  dispose  of  these  and  other  pressing  matters,  so  as 
to  go  into  Committee  of  the  Whole  upon  the  state 
of  the  Colony.  Colonel  Archibald  Gary  presided 
over  the  Committee.  The  question  of  independence 
was  introduced  at  once,  and  was  debated  on  that 
and  the  next  day,  when  the  Committee  rose  and 
reported  the  following  resolutions,  which  were 
unanimously  agreed  to  by  the  House,  one  hundred 
and  twelve  members  being  present : 

"  Forasmuch  as  all  the  endeavours  of  the  United 
Colonies,  by  the  most  decent  representations  and 
petitions  to  the  king  and  parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  to  restore  peace  and  security  to  America 
under  the  British  government,  and  a  reunion  with 
that  people  upon  just  and  liberal  terms,  instead  of 
a  redress  of  grievances,  have  produced,  from  an 
imperious  and  vindictive  administration,  increased 
insult,  oppression,  and  a  vigorous  attempt  to  effect 
our  total  destruction.  By  a  late  act,  all  these 
colonies  are  declared  to  be  in  rebellion,  and  out  of 
the  protection  of  the  British  crown ;  our  properties 
subjected  to  confiscation ;  our  people,  when  capti 
vated,  compelled  to  join  in  the  murder  and  plunder 
of  their  relations  and  countrymen ;  and  all  former 
rapine  and  oppression  of  Americans  declared  legal 
and  just.  Fleets  and  armies  are  raised,  and  the  aid 
of  foreign  troops  engaged  to  assist  these  destructive 
purposes.  The  King's  representative  in  this  colony 
hath  not  only  withheld  all  the  powers  of  govern 
ment  from  operating  for  our  safety,  but,  ha.ving 
retired  on  board  an  armed  ship,  is  carrying  on  a 
piratical  and  savage  war  against  us,  tempting  our 
slaves  by  every  artifice  to  resort  to  him,  and  train 
ing  and  employing  them  against  their  masters.  In 
this  state  of  extreme  danger,  we  have  no  alternative 
left  but  an  abject  submission  to  the  will  of  those 


392  PATRICK   HENRY. 

overbearing  tyrants,  or  a  total  separation  from  tlie 
crown  and  government  of  Great  Britain,  uniting  and 
exerting  the  strength  of  all  America  for  defence, 
and  forming  alliances  with  foreign  powers  for 
commerce  and  aid  in  war :  Wherefore,  appealing 
to  the  SEARCHER  OF  HEARTS  for  the  sincerity  of 
former  declarations,  expressing  our  desire  to  pre 
serve  the  connexion  with  that  nation,  and  that  we 
are  driven  from  that  inclination  by  their  wicked 
councils,  and  the  eternal  laws  of  self  preserva 
tion  ; 

"JResolved,  unanimously,  That  the  delegates  ap 
pointed  to  represent  this  colony  in  General  Congress, 
be  instructed  to  propose  to  that  respectable  body 
to  declare  the  United  Colonies  free  and  independent 
states,  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to,  or  depend 
ence  upon,  the  crown  or  parliament  of  Great  Britain ; 
and  that  they  give  the  assent  of  this  colony  to  such 
declaration,  and  to  whatever  measures  may  be 
thought  proper  and  necessary  by  the  Congress  for 
forming  foreign  alliances,  and  a  confederation  of 
the  colonies,  at  such  time,  and  in  the  manner,  as  to 
them  shall  seem  best :  Provided,  that  the  power  of 
forming  government  for,  and  the  regulations  of,  the 
internal  concerns  of  each  colony,  be  left  to  the 
respective  colonial  legislatures. 

"  Resolved  unanimously,  That  a  committee  be  ap 
pointed  to  prepare  a  DECLARATION  of  RIGHTS,  and 
srch  a  plan  of  government  as  will  be  most  likely  to 
maintain  peace  and  order  in  this  colony,  and  secure 
substantial  and  equal  liberty  to  the  people." 

The  leading  part  taken  by  Mr.  Henry  on  this 
momentous  occasion  is  thus  described  by  Edmund 
Randolph  : 

"  When  the  disposition  of  the  peoples  as  exhibit 
ed  by  their  representatives  could  not  be  mistaken, 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.— INDEPENDENCE.     393 

Henry  had  full  indulgence  of  his  own  private 
judgment,  and  he  concerted  with  Nelson  that  he 
(Nelson)  should  introduce  the  question  of  independ 
ence,  and  that  Henry  should  enforce  it.  Nelson 
affected  nothing  of  oratory,  except  what  ardent 
feelings  might  inspire,  and  characteristic  of  himself, 
he  had  no  fears  of  his  own  with  which  to  temporize, 
and  supposing  that  others  ought  to  have  none,  he 
passed  over  the  probabilities  of  foreign  aid,  stepped 
lightly  on  the  difficulties  of  procuring  military 
stores  and  the  inexperience  of  officers  and  soldiers, 
but  pressed  a  declaration  of  independence,  upon 
what  with  him  were  incontrovertible  grounds; 
that  we  were  oppressed,  had  humbly  supplicated  a 
redress  of  grievances  which  had  been  refused  with 
insult ;  and  that  to  return  from  battle  against  the 
sovereign  with  the  cordiality  of  subjects  was 
absurd.  It  was  expected  that  a  declaration  of  in 
dependence  would  certainly  be  passed,  and  for 
obvious  reasons  Mr.  Henry  seemed  allotted  to  crown 
his  political  conduct  with  this  supreme  stroke. 
And  yet  for  a  considerable  time  he  talked  of  the 
subject  as  critical,  but  without  committing  himself 
by  a  pointed  avowal  in  its  favor  or  a  pointed  re 
pudiation  of  it.  He  thought  that  a  course  which 
put  at  stake  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the  people 
should  appear  to  be  their  own  act,  and  that  he 
ought  not  to  place  upon  the  responsibility  of  his 
eloquence,  a  revolution  of  which  the  people  might 
be  wearied  after  the  present  stimulus  should  cease 
to  operate.  But  after  some  time  he  appeared  in  an 
element  for  which  he  was  born.  To  cut  the  knot 
which  calm  prudence  was  puzzled  to  untie  was 
worthy  of  the  magnificence  of  his  genius.  He 
entered  into  no  subtlety  of  reasoning,  but  was 
aroused  by  the  now  apparent  spirit  of  the  people. 
As  a  pillar  of  fire,  which  notwithstanding  the  dark 
ness  of  the  prospect  would  conduct  to  the  promised 


394  PATRICK   HENRY. 

land,  he  inflamed,  and  was  followed  by,  the  conven 
tion.1  His  eloquence  unlocked  the  secret  springs  of 
the  human  heart,  robbed  danger  of  all  its  terror, 
and  broke  the  keystone  in  the  arch  of  royal  power." 

Thomas  Nelson,  selected  by  Mr.  Henry  to  move 
independence,  was  one  of  the  richest  and,  at  the 
same  time,  was  one  of  the  most  popular  men  in  the 
Colony.  His  family  was  classed  among  the  aristoc 
racy,  and  no  wiser  selection  could  have  been  made 
in  looking  for  a  leader  who  could  pledge  the  weal 
thy  classes  to  the  move  for  independence. 

In  addition  to  the  statement  of  Edmund  Ran 
dolph,  we  have  some  account  of  what  passed  in 
Committee  in  a  letter  of  Thomas  Ludwell  Lee  to 
his  brother,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  written  May  18, 
1776.2  The  writer  encloses  a  copy  of  the  resolves, 
and  adds  :  "  You  have  also  a  set  of  resolves  offered 
by  Colonel  M.  Smith,  but  the  first,  which  were  pro 
posed  the  second  day  by  the  President — for  the  de 
bate  lasted  two  days — were  preferred.  These  he 
had  formed  from  the  resolves  and  preambles  of  the 
first  day  badly  put  together." 

Among  the  papers  of  the  Convention  remaining 
in  the  Capitol  are  found  three  endorsed  by  the 
clerk,  "  Rough  Resolutions.  Independence."  They 
are  as  follows : 

No.  1.  In  Handwriting  of  Patrick  Henry. 

"  As  the  humble  petitions  of  the  continental  Con 
gress  have  been  rejected  and  treated  with  contempt; 

1  The  above  extract   is   from  the  MS.  History  of  Virginia.     The  re 
mainder  of  the  quotation  is   from   Randolph's  account  in   his  Eulogy 
of  Edmund  Pendleton. 

2  Printed  in  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  November,  1858,  p.  324. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.— INDEPENDENCE.     395 

as  the  parliament  of  G.  B.  so  far  from  showing  any 
disposition  to  redress  our  grievances,  have  lately 
passed  an  act  approving  of  the  ravages  that  have 
been  committed  upon  our  coasts,  and  obliging  the 
unhappy  men  who  shall  be  made  captives  to  bear 
arms  against  their  families,  kindred,  friends,  and 
country ;  and  after  being  plundered  themselves,  to 
become  accomplices  in  plundering  their  brethren,  a 
compulsion  not  practiced  on  prisoners  of  war  except 
among  pirates,  the  outlaws  and  enemies  of  human 
society.  As  they  are  not  only  making  every  prepa 
ration  to  crush  us,  which  the  internal  strength  of 
the  nation  and  its  alliances  with  foreign  powers 
afford  them,  but  are  using  every  art  to  draw  the 
savage  Indians  upon  our  frontiers,  and  are  even  en 
couraging  insurrection  among  our  slaves,  many  of 
whom  are  now  actually  in  arms  against  us.  And  as 
the  King  of  G.  B.  by  a  long  series  of  oppressive 
acts  has  proved  himself  the  tyrant  instead  of  the 
protector  of  his  people.  We,  the  representatives  of 
the  colony  of  Virginia  do  declare,  that  we  hold  our 
selves  absolved  of  our  allegiance  to  the  crown  of  G. 
B.  and  obliged  by  the  eternal  laws  of  self-preserva 
tion  to  pursue  such  measures  as  may  conduce  to  the 
good  and  happiness  of  the  united  colonies ;  and  as  a 
full  declaration  of  Independency  appears  to  us  to 
be  the  only  honourable  means  under  Heaven  of  ob 
taining  that  happiness,  and  of  restoring  us  again  to 
a  tranquil  and  prosperous  situation  ; 

"  Resolved,  That  our  delegates  in  Congress  be  en 
joined  in  the  strongest  and  most  positive  manner  to 
exert  their  ability  in  procuring  an  immediate,  clear, 
and  full  Declaration  of  Independency." 

No.  2.  In  Handwriting  of  Meriw ether  Smith. 

"  Whereas  Lord  Dunmore  hath  assumed  a  power 
of  suspending  by  proclamation  the  laws  of  this  col- 


396  PATRICK   HENRY. 

ony,  which  is  supported  by  a  late  act  of  the  British 
Parliament,  declaring  the  colonies  in  North  Amer 
ica  to  be  in  actual  rebellion  and  out  of  the  King's 
protection,  confiscating  our  property  where  ever 
found  on  the  water,  and  legalizing  every  seizure,  rob 
bery  and  rapine,  that  their  people  have  heretofore 
committed  on  us. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  government  of  this  colony  as 
hitherto  exercised  under  the  crown  of  Great  Britain 
be  dissolved,  and  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to 
prepare  a  Declaration  of  Rights,  and  such  a  Plan 
of  Government,  as  shall  be  judged  most  proper  to 
maintain  Peace  and  Order  in  this  colony,  and  secure 
substantial  and  equal  liberty  to  the  people." 

No.  3.     Believed  to  be  in  the  Handwriting  of  Ed 
mund  Pendleton. 

"  Whereas  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  have 
usurped  unlimited  authority  to  bind  the  inhabitants 
of  the  American  Colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever, 
and  the  British  Ministry  have  attempted  to  execute 
their  many  tyrannical  acts  in  the  most  inhuman  and 
cruel  manner,  and  King  George  the  third  having 
withdrawn  his  protection  from  the  said  colonies, 
and  jointly  with  the  ministry  and  Parliament,  has 
begun  and  is  now  pursuing  with  the  utmost  vio 
lence  a  barbarous  war  against  the  said  colonies,  in 
violation  of  every  civil  and  religious  right  of  the 
said  colonies. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  union  that  has  hitherto  sub 
sisted   between    Great   Britain    and   the  American 
\j          colonies  is   thereby  totally  dissolved,  and  that  the 
inhabitants  of  this  colony  are  discharged  from  any 
allegiance  to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain." 

These  evidently  were  the  resolutions  debated  the 
first  day,  and  the  paper  in  the  handwriting  of  Pat- 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.— INDEPENDENCE.     397 

rick  Henry  was  the  one  introduced  by  Nelson.  The 
three  papers  differ  not  only  in  the  grounds  assigned 
for  the  step  about  to  be  taken,  but  also  in  the  man 
ner  of  proceeding.  All  three  declare  the  union  be 
tween  Virginia  and  Great  Britain  dissolved,  but 
Mr.  Henry's  paper  proposes  that  Congress  be  asked 
to  make  for  all  the  Colonies  a  "  clear  and  full  decla 
ration  of  independency."  His  great  anxiety  that 
the  Colonies  act  as  a  unit  in  this  all-important 
matter,  and  that  before  the  Declaration  should  be 
made  public  a  confederation  should  be  effected  by 
Congress,  and  an  ambassador  be  despatched  to 
France  to  solicit  a  treaty  with  that  power,  will  be 
seen  in  his  letters  to  R.  H.  Lee  and  John  Adams  of 
May  20.1  The  resolution  in  his  handwriting  was 
intended  to  be  the  first  step  in  this  direction.  It 
can  hardly  be  doubted  that  Mr.  Henry  expected 
the  Convention  to  frame  a  Government,  and  the 
fact  that  Meriwether  Smith's  resolution  provides  for 
a  committee  to  do  this,  cannot  be  taken  as  an  indi 
cation  that  he  alone  of  the  three  designed  such  a 
step.  It  was  the  natural  consequence  of  the  reso 
lution  of  independence,  and  had  been  recommended 
by  Congress  months  before. 

A  comparison  of  the  paper  proposed  next  day  by 
Pendleton  and  adopted,  with  that  drawn  by  Mr. 
Henry,  explains  why  Mr.  Henry  said  of  Pendleton's 
paper  in  his  letter  to  John  Adams,  "  I  put  up  with 
it  in  the  present  form  for  the  sake  of  unanimity, 
'tis  not  quite  so  pointed  as  I  could  wish."  The  let 
ter  of  Thomas  Ludwell  Lee  just  quoted,  shows  that 
he  too  was  not  entirely  satisfied  with  it.  He  says  : 
"  The  preamble  is  not  to  be  admired  in  point  of 

1  Post,  pp.  410  and  412. 


398  PATRICK   HENRY. 

composition,  nor  has  the  resolve  of  independency 
that  peremptory  and  decided  air  which  I  could 
wish.  Perhaps  the  proviso  which  preserves  to  this 
Colony  the  power  of  forming  its  own  government 
may  be  questionable  as  to  its  fitness.  Would  not  a 
uniform  plan  of  Government  prepared  for  America 
by  Congress,  and  approved  by  the  Colonies,  be  a  sure 
foundation  of  unceasing  harmony  for  the  whole  ?  " 

The  resolutions  as  adopted  in  effect  declare  Vir 
ginia  independent,  without  waiting  for  the  action  of 
Congress,  by  providing  for  the  immediate  framing 
of  a  separate  Government,  which  was  reported  and 
adopted  before  Congress  declared  the  Colonies  inde 
pendent. 

Although  the  Journal  shows  a  unanimous  vote  on 
the  adoption  of  the  resolutions  by  the  House,  Ed 
mund  Randolph  records  the  fact  that  there  was  op 
position  in  the  Committee.  He  says : 1 

"  The  vote  was  unanimous  for  independence,  ex 
cept  in  the  instance  of  Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  who 
demonstrated  his  title  to  popularity  by  despising  it 
when  it  demanded  a  sacrifice  of  his  judgment.  He 
offered  himself  as  a  victim  to  conscience  being  dub 
ious  of  the  competency  of  America  in  so  arduous  a 
contest.  He  alone  had  fortitude  enough  to  yield  to 
his  fears  on  this  awful  occasion,  although  there  was 
reason  to  believe  that  he  was  not  singular  in  the 
conviction.  But  immediately  after  he  had  ab 
solved  his  obligation  of  duty,  he  declared  that  he 
would  rise  or  fall  with  his  country,  and  proposed  a 
plan  for  drawing  forth  all  its  energies  in  support  of 
that  very  independence."  2 

1  MS.  History  of  Virginia. 

2  Mr.  Nicholas  had  been  instructed  by  a  majority  of  his  constituents  to 
vote  for  Independence,  American  Archives  (4th  Series),  v.,  1046. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.— INDEPENDENCE.     399 

The  passage  of  the  resolutions  was  hailed  with 
the  greatest  joy  by  the  soldiery,  and  by  the  peo 
ple  of  Williamsburg.  The  British  flag  was  imme 
diately  struck  on  the  Capitol,  and  a  Continental 
flag  hoisted  in  its  stead.  The  troops  were  drawn 
out  and  a  discharge  of  artillery  and  small  arms 
was  had.  The  Gazette  of  May  17  published  the 
resolutions,  and  added  the  following  notice  of  their 
reception : 

"  In  consequence  of  the  above  resolutions,  univer 
sally  regarded  as  the  only  door  which  will  lead  to 
safety  and  prosperity,  some  gentlemen  made  a  hand 
some  collection  for  the  purpose  of  treating  the  sol 
diery,  who  next  day  were  paraded  in  Waller's 
grove,  before  Brigadier-General  Lewis,  attended  by 
the  gentlemen  of  the  committee  of  safety,  the  mem 
bers  of  the  General  Convention,  the  inhabitants  of 
this  city,  &c.  The  resolutions  being  read  aloud  to 
the  army,  the  following  toasts  were  given,  each  of 
them  accompanied  by  a  discharge  of  the  artillery 
and  small  arms,  and  the  acclamations  of  all  pres 
ent  :— 

"  1.  The  American  Independent  States. 

"  2.  The  Grand  Congress  of  the  United  States 
and  their  respective  legislatures. 

"  3.  General  Washington,  and  victory  to  the 
American  arms. 

"  The  Union  Flag  of  the  American  States  waved 
upon  the  Capitol  during  the  whole  of  this  cere 
mony  ;  which  being  ended,  the  soldiers  partook  of 
the  refreshments  prepared  for  them  by  the  affection 
of  their  countrymen,  and  the  evening  concluded 
with  illuminations,  and  other  demonstrations  of  joy  ; 
every  one  seeming  pleased  that  the  domination  of 
Great  Britain  was  now  at  an  end,  so  wickedly  and 
tyrannically  exercised  for  these  twelve  or  thirteen 


400  PATRICK   HENRY. 

years  past,  notwithstanding  our  repeated  prayers 
and  remonstrances  for  redress." 

Copies  of  the  resolutions,  with  a  circular  letter, 
were  sent  at  once  by  the  Convention  to  the  other 
Colonies,  inviting  them  to  unite  in  the  motion  or 
dered  by  Virginia.  Her  action  was  hailed  with 
joy  by  the  patriots  throughout  America,  and  glow 
ing  tributes  to  the  patriotism  of  the  Old  Dominion 
were  paid  in  the  private  correspondence  and  the 
public  journals  of  the  day.1  She  was  the  recog 
nized  leader  in  this  the  last,  as  in  the  first,  act  of 
the  civil  revolution. 

Colonel  Nelson  at  once  started  for  Philadelphia, 
bearing  the  Virginia  resolutions  to  the  Congress, 
of  which  he  was  a  member.  They  were  presented 
to  that  body  May  27,  1776.2 

A  majority  of  the  members  were  already  for  in 
dependence,  as  had  been  shown  by  their  resolutions 
of  May  10  and  15,  recommending  to  the  Assemblies 
and  Conventions  of  the  Colonies  to  suppress  the  ex 
ercise  of  the  royal  authority,  and  "  adopt  such  gov 
ernment  as  shall  conduce  to  the  happiness  and 
safety  of  their  constituents ; ''  but  they  were  ham 
pered  by  the  instructions  given  by  some  of  the 
Colonies  to  their  delegates  forbidding  a  separation 
from  Great  Britain.  These  had  been  given  during 
the  preceding  year,  before  the  great  change  in  pub 
lic  sentiment  had  taken  place.  Several  of  the  Colo 
nies,  however,  had  recently  given  instructions  fully 
authorizing  their  delegates  to  take  the  final  step. 
Thus  the  instructions  given  January  18,  1776,  to 

1  Frothingham's  Rise  of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States,  511. 

2  Journal  of  Congress. 


VIRGINIA  CONVENTION.— INDEPENDENCE.     401 

the  delegates  from  Massachusetts,  while  not  using 
the  word  independence,  were  so  drawn  as  to  fully 
empower  a  vote  for  it.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
the  instructions  given  to  the  delegates  from  South 
Carolina  March  25,  and  from  Georgia  April  5. 
On  April  12,  the  delegates  from  North  Carolina 
had  been  expressly  empowered  to  vote  for  indepen 
dence,  and  on  May  4,  the  delegates  from  Rhode 
Island  were  similarly  instructed,  but  in  terms  not  so 
explicit  as  those  used  by  the  Assembly  of  North 
Carolina.1  These  all  left  it  discretionary  with  their 
delegates,  however,  as  to  how  they  should  vote  on  a 
motion  for  independence,  a  motion  it  was  the  distin 
guished  honor  of  Virginia  to  order  her  delegates  to 
make. 

On  June  7,  1776,  Richard  Henry  Lee  moved  in 
Congress,  in  obedience  to  the  instructions  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  nearly  in  the  very  language  of  her  resol 
utions  : 

"That  these  united  colonies  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  States,  that  they 
are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British 
Crown,  and  that  all  political  connection  between 
them  and  the  State  of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought 
to  be  totally  dissolved. 

"  That  it  is  expedient  forthwith  to  take  the  most 
effectual  measures  for  forming  foreign  alliances. 

"  That  a  plan  of  confederation  be  prepared  and 
transmitted  to  the  respective  colonies  for  their  con 
sideration." 

John  Adams  seconded  the  resolutions,  and  their 
consideration  was  postponed  till  the  next  day,  when 

1  Bancroft,  viii.,  449,  and  Journal  of  Congress. 


402  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  members  were  enjoined  to  attend  punctually  at 
ten  o'clock.  The  8th  and  10th  Saturday  and  Mon 
day,  were  spent  in  a  memorable  debate  upon  the 
resolutions,  the  body  sitting  as  a  committee  of  the 
whole.  They  were  opposed  by  James  Wilson,  Rob 
ert  R.  Livingston,  E.  Rutledge,  John  Dickinson, 
and  others,  as  premature ;  and  supported  by  John 
Adams,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  George  Wythe,  and 
others,  as  absolutely  necessary  for  the  further  suc 
cessful  conduct  of  the  war.1 

"It  appearing,"  says  Mr.  Jefferson,  "in  the 
course  of  these  debates,  that  the  colonies  of  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Mary 
land  and  South  Carolina  were  not  yet  matured  for 
falling  from  the  parent  stem,  but  they  were  fast 
advancing  to  that  state,  it  was  thought  most  pru 
dent  to  wait  a  while  for  them,  and  to  postpone  the 
final  decision  to  July  1  ;  but  that  this  might  occa 
sion  as  little  delay  as  possible,  a  committee  was  ap 
pointed  to  prepare  a  Declaration  of  Independence." 
This  committee  was  appointed  June  11,  and  con 
sisted  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Adams,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  Roger  Sherman,  and  R.  R.  Livingston. 

The  chairmanship  of  this  important  committee  was 
given  of  course  to  the  Colony  moving  the  resolution, 
and  the  member  making  the  motion  was  plainly  the 
proper  person  for  that  position.  Why  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  was  made  the  chairman  instead  of  Colonel  Lee 
has  been  a  disputed  question.  The  biographer  of 
Colonel  Lee  states  that  he  received  intelligence  of 
the  illness  of  his  wife  on  June  10,  and  left  Phila 
delphia  for  his  home  on  the  next  day.  But  there  is 
a  letter  written  by  him  to  Washington,  dated  June 

1  See  Jefferson's  Memoir  for  a  summary  of  the  debate. 


VIRGINIA  CONVENTION.— INDEPENDENCE.     403 

13,  1776,  at  Philadelphia,1  which  states  "This  day 
I  set  off  for  Virginia,'7  and  directs  that  a  certain 
communication,  which  he  desires,  should  be  ad 
dressed  to  him  at  Williamsburg.  In  this  letter  he 
makes  no  mention  of  the  sickness  of  his  wife.  It  is 
probable,  therefore,  that  he  had  determined  to  leave 
Philadelphia  to  take  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
Virginia  Convention,  and  hence  did  not  desire  to  be 
placed  on  the  committee  to  draft  the  Declaration. 

On  June  12,  committees  were  appointed  "to  pre 
pare  and  digest  the  form  of  a  Confederation  to  be 
entered  into  between  these  colonies,"  and  "  to  pre 
pare  a  plan  of  treaties  to  be  proposed  to  foreign 
powers.'' 

On  July  1,  the  debate  was  resumed,  and  fresh 
instructions  having  arrived  from  several  Colonies  in 
the  meantime,  the  resolution  for  independence  was 
carried  in  Committee  by  the  votes  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island, 
New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
and  Georgia ;  South  Carolina  and  Pennsylvania 
voting  against  it,  Delaware  being  divided,  and 
New  York  asking  to  be  excused,  because,  although 
her  delegates  were  for  it,  their  instructions,  given 
near  twelve  months  before,  forbade  them  to  vote  for 
it.  The  Committee  thereupon  reported  the  resolu 
tion  to  the  House,  when,  on  motion  of  Edward  Kut- 
ledge,  its  consideration  was  postponed  till  the  next 
day,  in  order  to  enable  the  delegation  from  South 
Carolina  to  confer  among  themselves  as  to  what 
vote  they  would  cast.  When  the  resolution  came 
up  on  July  2,  the  vote  of  South  Carolina  was  cast 
for  it,  and  new  members  having  arrived  for  Dela- 

1  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  vi.,  834. 


404  PATRICK  HENRY. 

ware  and  Pennsylvania,  the  votes  of  these  Colonies 
were  changed  to  the  affirmative,  and  thus  every  Col 
ony  voted  for  the  resolution,  except  New  York,  and 
her  Convention,  July  9,  approved  of  it. 

The  formal  Declaration  of  Independence,  drawn 
by  Jefferson,  had  been  reported  by  the  Committee 
June  28,  and  after  a  discussion  running  through 
three  days,  was  adopted  July  4,  1776. 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan  of 
Confederation,  reported  on  July  12,  articles  drawn 
up  by  John  Dickinson.  Instead  of  being  confined 
for  the  present  "  to  the  general  objects  of  an  offensive 
and  defensive  nature,  and  a  guaranty  of  the  respec 
tive  colonial  rights,"  as  suggested  by -Mr.  Henry,1 
they  were  elaborately  drawn,  involving  the  difficult 
questions  of  commerce,  public  lands,  taxation,  the 
relative  positions  of  the  large  and  small  States,  and 
the  particulars  of  a  government  which  could  not  be 
settled  but  after  long  delay  and  much  debate.  It- 
was  sixteen  months  before  Congress  could  agree 
upon  them,  and  it  was  February  2, 1781,  before  the 
last  Colony  ratified  them. 

Steps  were  taken  at  once  for  the  formation  of 
treaties,  but  these  also  were  long  deferred. 

1  Letter  to  John  Adams,  May  20,  1776. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

VIKGINIA  CONTENTION.—  CONSTITUTION  MAKING.—  1776. 

Power  of  Convention  to  Frame  a  Constitution.  —  A  Written  Consti 
tution  Determined  on.  —  Patrick  Henry's  Views.  —  Correspon 
dence  with  John  Adams.  —  Plan  of  Adams  Approved  by  B.  H. 
Lee  and  Patrick  Henry.  —  Draft  of  Bill  of  Eights  by  George 
Mason.  —  Patrick  Henry's  Part  in  Perfecting  It.  —  Analysis  of  the 
Bill  of  Bights.  —  Sources  from  Whence  Derived.  —  Important 
Sections  Proposed  by  Patrick  Henry.  —  He  Inserts  the  Principle 
of  Beligious  Liberty.  —  Mason's  Plan  of  a  Constitution.  —  Com 
pared  with  Adams'  Plan,  and  the  Instrument  Adopted.  —  Pro 
posals  of  Patrick  Henry.—  Plan  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 

THE  Virginia  Convention  was  called  to  meet  ques 
tions  of  the  gravest  importance  which  immediately 
arose  upon  the  determination  to  declare  indepen 
dence.  The  first  presented  was  as  to  the  power  of 
the  Convention  to  frame  a  permanent  Constitution 
of  Government.  Edmund  Randolph  has  left  the 
following  statement  :  * 


Jefferson,  who  was  in  Congress,  urged  a 
youthful  friend  2  in  the  convention,  to  oppose  &  per 
manent  constitution,  until  the  people  should  elect 
deputies  for  the  special  purpose.  He  denied  the 
power  of  the  body  elected  (as  he  conceived  them  to 
be  agents  for  the  management  of  the  war),  to  exceed 
some  temporary  regimen.  The  member  alluded  to 
communicated  the  ideas  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  some  of 
the  leaders  in  the  house,  Edmund  Pendleton,  Pat 
rick  Henry,  and  George  Mason.  These  gentlemen 
saw  no  distinction  between  the  conceded  power  to 

1  In  his  MS.  History  of  Virginia.        2  Doubtless  Mr.  Randolph  himself. 


406  PATRICK   HENRY. 

declare  independence,  and  its  necessary  consequence, 
the  fencing  of  society  by  the  institution  of  govern 
ment.  Nor  were  they  sure  that  to  be  backward  in 
this  act  of  sovereignty  might  not  imply  a  distrust, 
whether  the  rule  had  been  wrested  from  the  King. 
The  attempt  to  postpone  the  formation  of  a  consti 
tution,  until  a  commission  of  greater  latitude,  and 
one  more  specific  should  be  given  by  the  people,  was 
a  task  too  hardy  for  an  inexperienced  young  man." 

Afterward  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  "  Notes  on  Vir 
ginia,"  entered  into  a  labored  argument  to  prove 
that  the  Convention  was  not  authorized  to  adopt  a 
permanent  Constitution,  and  that  the  one  adopted 
was  not  in  fact  permanent,  but  was  liable  to  be 
changed  by  any  ordinary  legislature  which  might 
assemble.  Mr.  "Wythe  seems  to  have  entertained 
the  same  views  from  a  passage  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Jefferson,  July  27,  1776,1  in  which  he  says:  "  The 
system  agreed  to,  in  my  opinion,  requires  reforma 
tion.  In  October  I  hope  you  will  effect  it."  These 
views  were  based  upon  a  mistaken  idea  of  the  pow 
ers  of  the  Convention.  The  sovereignty  of  the  peo 
ple  was  represented  by  the  body,  else  it  had  no  pow 
ers  to  declare  independence,  the  highest  act  of 
sovereignty  ;  and  representing  that  sovereignty  it 
was  within  its  powers,  and  became  its  duty,  to  estab 
lish  a  permanent  form  of  government.  This  view, 
taken  by  Mr.  Henry  and  others  at  the  time,  was  after 
ward  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  in  the  case  of  Kamper  vs.  Hawkins.2 

Another  question  to  be  met  on  the  threshold  was 
the  propriety  of  having  a  written  constitution.  The 

1  History  of  Virginia  (Jones  &  Girardin),  vol.  iv.,  page  151,  note. 

2  Reported  in  1  Virginia  Cases,  p.  20. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  407 

Government  of  Great  Britain  had  always  been  con 
ducted  under  an  unwritten  constitution,  and  its  ad 
mirers  claimed  this  to  be  one  of  its  excellencies. 
The  Convention  determined  to  try  the  great  experi 
ment  of  a  written  constitution  as  the  supreme  law 
of  the  State,  which,  emanating  from  the  popular 
will,  and  settling  the  powers  of  the  different  depart 
ments  of  government,  should  serve  as  a  restraint 
upon  the  people  themselves  in  the  exercise  of  their 
sovereignty,  and  thus  give  permanency  to  their  po 
litical  institutions.  This  marks  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  government.  It  is  true  that  in  some 
ancient  states  written  codes  of  laws  were  found, 
which  have  been  deriominated  constitutions.  But 
they  were  the  work  of  rulers,  and  not  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  they  mingled  provisions  which  were  in 
tended  to  be  permanent  with  others  of  a  temporary 
nature.  And  so  in  America,  the  attempts  to  adopt 
constitutions  had  been  hitherto  very  crude,  and  the 
papers  were  only  intended  for  temporary  use.  In 
deed,  being  liable  to  change  by  the  Legislature,  they 
lacked  the  feature  of  permanency.^ 

The  framing  of  a  Bill  of  Rights,  to  include  all  of 
the  inalienable  rights  of  the  people,  and  to  serve  as 
a  foundation  for  the  new  government,  was  an  enter 
prise  as  difficult  as  it  was  novel.  That  the  great 
task  of  framing  a  Bill  of  Rights  and  a  written  Con 
stitution  was  undertaken,  and  successfully  accom 
plished,  by  this  Convention,  will  ever  cause  it  to  be 
remembered  by  a  grateful  world. 

Another  question  of  great  importance  was, 
whether  Virginia  should  form  a  separate  constitu 
tion,  and  leave  each  State  to  follow  its  own  inclina 
tion  as  to  the  form  it  should  adopt ;  or  whether  it 


408  PATRICK   HENRY. 

would  not  be  best  to  ask  Congress  to  prepare  a  uni 
form  plan  of  government  for  all  the  States.  This 
last  was  evidently  the  desire  of  Thomas  Ludwell 
Lee,  as  appears  by  his  letter  to  R.  H.  Lee,  of  May 
18,  1776,1  in  which  he  criticises  the  Convention  for 
determining  otherwise.  It  was  also  the  plan  rec 
ommended  in  the  instructions  of  Charlotte  County. 
That  the  plan  adopted  met  with  the  approval  of 
Mr.  Henry,  is  evident  from  his  letter  to  John 
Adams,  of  May  20,  1776,2  in  which,  while  objecting 
to  the  resolutions  for  independence  as  not  pointed 
enough,  lie  makes  no  objection  to  them  because  of 
the  provision  for  framing  a  separate  government. 
It  is  very  certain  from  the  letter  of  Colonel  Thomas 
L.  Lee,  that  the  matter  was  discussed  in  the  Con 
vention,  and  it  may  be  safely  concluded  that  Mr. 
Henry,  in  that  discussion,  favored  the  plan  adopted. 
Had  the  other  been  recommended  and  adopted, 
doubtless  the  autonomy  of  the  States  would  not  have 
been  long  preserved. 

It  having  been  determined  to  frame  a  written 
constitution  for  the  State,  the  all-important  ques 
tion  remained  as  to  its  character.  What  form  of 
government  should  be  adopted?  This  was  a  ques 
tion  which  not  only  involved  the  future  of  Virginia, 
but  of  the  United  States,  as  the  Convention  was  re 
minded  by  letters  that  Virginia  was  looked  to  as 
their  trusted  leader,  to  be  followed  in  this,  the 
crowning  act  of  the  Revolution.  While  the  Con 
vention  felt  the  great  responsibility  resting  upon 
them,  they  did  not  fail  to  appreciate  the  grand  op 
portunity  they  enjoyed  of  selecting  the  best  possible 
form  of  government.  Other  countries  had  acquired 

1  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  November,  1858.      2  Post,  p.  412. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  409 

their  forms  of  government,  they  hardly  knew  how. 
Often  these  forms  had  been  fixed  upon  them  by  ac 
cident  or  force,  and  had  held  under  their  rule  citi 
zens  who  had  no  choice  in  selecting  them.  Now 
the  world  was  to  see  a  new  and  wonderful  sight. 
A  people  discarding  their  former  Government, 
while  in  the  midst  of  a  bloody  Eevolution,  were 
calmly  to  discuss  the  true  principles  of  all  govern 
ment,  and  to  frame  that  system  which  should  seem 
best  suited  for  the  promotion  of  their  happiness  and 
prosperity.  In  this  great  work  no  one  was  more 
deeply  interested,  or  more  active,  than  Mr.  Henry. 
The  Committee  appointed  on  May  15,  to  prepare  a 
declaration  of  rights  and  a  plan  of  government,  con 
sisted  of  Archibald  Gary,  Meriwether  Smith,  James 
Mercer,  Henry  Lee,  Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  Patrick 
Henry,  Bartholomew  Dandridge,  Edmund  Randolph, 
George  Gilmer,  Richard  Bland,  Dudley  Digges,  Paul 
Carrington,  Thomas  Ludwell  Lee,  William  Cabell, 
Joseph  Jones,  John  Blair,  William  Fleming,  Henry 
Tazewell,  Richard  Gary,  Cuthbert  Bullitt,  William 
Watts,  John  Bannister,  Mann  Page,  Boiling  Starke, 
David  Mason,  Richard  Adams,  Thomas  Read,  and 
Thomas  Lewis.  On  the  next  day  James  Madison, 
Robert  Rutherford,  and  Benjamin  Watkins  were 
added.  The  Committee  commenced  its  work  at  once, 
and  had  made  some  progress  in  its  discussions  before 
George  Mason  was  added  to  it.  He  appeared  in 
his  seat  for  the  first  time  on  May  17,1  and  was 
added  to  the  Committee  on  Saturday,  the  next  day. 
The  following  interesting  letters  to  Richard  Henry 
Lee  and  John  Adams,  written  the  Monday  following, 

1  Letter  of  T.  L.  Lee  to  R.  H.  Lee,  May  18,  1776,  Southern  Literary 
Messenger  for  September,  1858. 


410  PATRICK  HENRY. 

show  Mr.  Henry's  views  upon  the  important  sub 
jects  engaging  him,  and  his  anxiety  that  the  great 
work  of  framing  a  government  should  be  properly 
conducted. 

"WiLLlAMSBURG,  May  20,  1776. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  two  last  favors  are  with  me  ; 
and  for  them  both,  I  give  you  many  thanks.  Ere 
this  reaches  you,  our  resolution  for  separating  from 
Britain  will  be  handed  you  by  Col.  Nelson.  Your 
sentiments  as  to  the  necessary  progress  of  this  great 
affair  correspond  with  mine.  For  may  not  France, 
ignorant  of  the  great  advantages  to  her  commerce 
we  intend  to  offer,  and  of  the  permanency  of  that 
separation  which  is  to  take  place,  be  allured  by  the 
partition  you  mention  ?  To  anticipate  therefore 
the  efforts  of  the  enemy  by  sending  instantly  Ameri 
can  Ambassadors  to  France,  seems  to  me  absolutely 
necessary.  Delay  may  bring  on  us  total  ruin.  But 
is  not  a  confederacy  of  our  states  previously  neces 
sary  ?  If  that  could  be  formed,  and  its  objects  for 
the  present  be  only  offensive  and  defensive,  and 
guaranty  respecting  Colonial  Rights,  perhaps  dis 
patch  might  be  had,  and  the  adjustment  of  Repre 
sentation,  and  other  lesser  matters,  be  postponed 
without  injury.  May  not  the  Fishery  be  a  tempt 
ing  object  ?  I  think  from  the  great  French  force 
now  in  West  Indies  some  person  of  eminent  rank 
must  be  there  to  guide  it.  The  Mississippi  should 
be  tho't  of.  I  thank  you  for  the  hint  of  the  back 
lands.  I  gave  an  opinion,  as  a  lawyer,  to  Brent,  on 
the  subject  of  his  and  Croghan's  purchase,  and  not 
withstanding  solicitations  from  every  great  land 
company  to  the  West,  I've  refused  to  join  them.  I 
think  a  general  confiscation  of  Royal  and  British 
property  should  be  made.  The  Fruits  would  be 
great,  and  the  measure  in  its  utmost  latitude  war 
ranted  by  the  late  act  of  Parliament. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  411 

"The  grand  work  of  forming  a  constitution  for 
Virginia  is  now  before  the  convention,  where  your 
love  of  equal  liberty  and  your  skill  in  public  coun 
sels,  might  so  eminently  serve  the  cause  of  your 
country.  Perhaps  I  am  mistaken,  but  I  fear  too 
great  a  bias  to  Aristocracy  prevails  among  the  opu 
lent.  I  own  my  self  a  Democrat  on  the  plan  of  our 
admired  friend,  J.  Adams,  whose  pamphlet  I  read 
with  great  pleasure.  A  performance  from  Philada 
is  just  come  here,  ushered  in,  I'm  told,  by  a  col- 

•  league  of  yours,  B and  greatly  recommended  by 

him.  I  don't  like  it.  Is  the  author  a  whig  ?  One 
or  two  expressions  in  the  Book  make  me  ask.  I 
wish  to  divide  you,  and  have  you  here,  to  animate 
by  your  manly  eloquence  the  sometimes  drooping 
spirits  of  our  country,  and  in  Congress,  to  be  the 
ornament  of  your  native  Country,  and  the  vigilant 
determined  foe  of  Tyranny.  To  give  you  colleagues 
of  kindred  sentiments  is  my  wish.  I  doubt  you  have 
them  not  at  present.  A  confidential  acc't  of  the 
matter  to  Col.  Tom,  desiring  him  to  use  it  accord 
ing  to  his  discretion,  might  greatly  serve  the  public, 
and  vindicate  Virginia  from  suspicions.  Vigor,  ani 
mation,  and  all  the  powers  of  mind  and  body,  must 
now  be  summoned  and  collected  together  into  one 
grand  effort.  Moderation,  falsely  so  called,  hath 
nearly  brought  on  us  final  ruin.  And  to  see  those  ; 
who  have  so  fatally  advised  us,  still  guiding,  or  at !i 
least  sharing  our  public  counsels,  alarms  me.  Adieu 
my  dear  Sir ;  present  me  to  ray  much  esteemed 
F.L.L.  and  believe  me. 

"  Yr.  very  affect,  and  obliged, 

"P.  HENRY,  jr. 

"  Pray  drop  me  a  line  now  and  then. 

"  To  COL.  R.  H.  LEE. 

"P.S. — Our  mutual  friend  the  General  will  be 
hampered  if  1  not  taken.  Some  Gentry  throw 

1  Obliterated. 


412  PATRICK  HENRY. 

out  alarms  that  a  Cong  1  power  has  swallowed 

up  everything.     My  all  to         1 1  know  how  to  feel 
for  him." 

"  WILLIAMSBURG  20th  May,  1776. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  favor,  with  the  pamphlet, 
came  safe  to  hand.  I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to 
you  for  it ;  and  I  am  not  without  hopes  it  may  pro 
duce  good  here,  where  there  is  among  most  of  our 
opulent  families  a  strong  bias  to  aristocracy.  I  tell 
my  friends  you  are  the  author.  Upon  that  suppo 
sition,  I  have  two  reasons  for  liking  the  book.  The 
sentiments  are  precisely  the  same  I  have  long  since 
taken  up,  and  they  come  recommended  by  you. 
Go  on,  my  dear  friend,  to  assail  the  strongholds  of 
tyranny  ;  and  in  whatever  form  oppression  may  be 
found,  may  those  talents  and  that  firmness,  which 
have  achieved  so  much  for  America,  be  pointed 
against  it. 

"  Before  this  reaches  you,  the  resolution  for  finally 
separating  from  Britain  will  be  handed  to  Congress 
by  Colonel  Nelson.  I  put  up  with  it  in  the  pres 
ent  form  for  the  sake  of  unanimity.  'Tis  not  quite 
so  pointed  as  I  could  wish. 

"  Excuse  me  for  telling  you  of  what  I  think  of 
immense  importance ;  'tis  to  anticipate  the  enemy  at 
the  French  Court.  The  half  of  our  Continent 
offered  to  France,  may  induce  her  to  aid  our  de 
struction,  which  she  certainly  has  the  power  to  ac 
complish.  I  know  the  free  trade  with  all  the  States 
would  be  more  beneficial  to  her  than  any  territorial 
possessions  she  might  acquire.  But  pressed,  al 
lured,  as  she  will  be — but,  above  all,  ignorant  of 
the  great  things  we  mean  to  offer,  may  we  not  lose 
her  ?  The  consequence  is  dreadful. 

"  Excuse  me  again.  The  confederacy  ;  that  must 
precede  an  open  declaration  of  independency  and 
foreign  alliances.  Would  it  not  be  sufficient  to 

1  Obliterated. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  413 

confine  it,  for  the  present,  to  the  objects  of  offensive 
and  defensive  nature,  and  a  guaranty  of  the  respec 
tive  colonial  rights  ?  If  a  minute  arrangement  of 
things  is  attempted,  such  as  equal  representation, 
cfec.,  <fec.,  you  may  split  and  divide ;  certainly  will 
delay  the  French  alliance,  which  with  me  is  every 
thing.  The  great  force  in  San  Domingo,  Marti 
nique,  <fec.,  is  under  the  guidance  of  some  person  in 
high  office.  Will  not  the  Mississippi  lead  your  am 
bassadors  thither  most  safely  ? 

"  Our  Convention  is  now  employed  in  the  great 
work  of  forming  a  constitution.  My  most  esteemed 
republican  form  has  many  and  powerful  enemies. 
A  silly  thing,  published  in  Philadelphia,  by  a  native 
of  Virginia,  has  just  made  its  appearance  here, 
strongly  recommended,  'tis  said,  by  one  of  our  dele 
gates  now  with  you, — Braxton.  His  reasonings 
upon  and  distinction  between  private  and  public  vir 
tue,  are  weak,  shallow,  and  evasive,  and  the  whole 
performance  an  affront  and  disgrace  to  this  country ; 
and,  by  one  expression,  I  suspect  his  whiggisrn. 

"  Our  session  will  be  very  long,  during  which  I 
cannot  count  upon  one  coadjutor  of  talents  equal  to 
the  task.  Would  to  God  you  and  your  Sam  Adams 
were  here !  It  shall  be  my  incessant  study,  so  to 
form  our  portrait  of  government,  that  a  kindred 
with  New  England  may  be  discerned  in  it,  and  if 
all  your  excellencies  cannot  be  preserved,  yet  I  hope 
to  retain  so  much  of  the  likeness,  that  posterity 
shall  pronounce  us  descended  from  the  same  stock. 
I  shall  think  perfection  is  obtained,  if  we  have  your 
approbation.  I  am  forced  to  conclude  ;  but  first,  let 
me  beg  to  be  presented  to  my  ever-esteemed  S. 
Adams.  Adieu,  my  dear  sir;  may  God  preserve 
you,  and  give  you  every  good  thing. 

"  P.  HENRY,  JR. 

"  To  JOHN  ADAMS  ESQ. 

"  P.S.— Will  you  and  S.  A.  now  and  then  write?  " 


414  PATRICK  HENRY. 

The  reply  of  Mr.  Adams  shows  his  full  sympathy 
with  these  views,  and  bears  remarkable  testimony 
to  Mr.  Henry's  eminent  services  in  the  Revolution. 
It  is  as  follows : 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  3,  June,  1776. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  had  this  morning  the  pleas 
ure  of  yours  of  20,  May.  The  little  pamphlet  you 
mention  is  nullius  filius  /  and,  if  I  should  be  ob 
liged  to  maintain  it,  the  world  will  not  expect  that 
I  should  own  it.  My  motive  for  inclosing  it  to 
you,  was  not  the  value  of  the  present,  but  as  a 
token  of  friendship,  and  more  for  the  sake  of  invit 
ing  your  attention  to  the  subject,  than  because 
there  was  anything  in  it  worthy  your  perusal.  The 
subject  is  of  infinite  moment,  and  perhaps  more 
than  adequate  to  the  abilities  of  any  man  in 
America.  I  know  of  none  so  competent  to  the  task 
as  the  author  of  the  first  Virginia  resolutions 
against  the  stamp  act,  who  will  have  the  glory  with 
posterity,  of  beginning  and  concluding  this  great 
revolution.  Happy  Virginia,  whose  Constitution  is 
to  be  framed  by  so  masterly  a  builder  !  Whether 
the  plan  of  the  pamphlet  is  not  too  popular,  whether 
the  elections  are  not  too  frequent  for  your  colony, 
I  know  not.  The  usages,  and  genius,  and  manners 
of  the  people  must  be  consulted.  And  if  annual 
elections  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  are 
sacredly  preserved,  those  elections  by  ballot,  and 
none  permitted  to  be  chosen  but  inhabitants,  re 
sidents  as  well  as  qualified  freeholders  of  the  city, 
county,  parish,  town,  or  borough  for  which  they 
are  to  serve,  three  essential  prerequisites  of  a  free 
government,  the  council,  or  middle  branch  of  legis 
lature  may  be  triennial,  or  even  septennial,  without 
much  inconvenience.  I  esteem  it  an  honor  and  a 
happiness,  that  my  opinion  so  often  coincides  with 
yours.  It  has  ever  appeared  to  me  that  the  natural 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  415 

course  and  order  of  things  was  this;  for  every 
colony  to  institute  a  government;  for  all  the  col 
onies  to  confederate,  and  define  the  limits  of  the 
continental  Constitution  ;  then  to  declare  the  col 
onies  a  sovereign  state,  or  a  number  of  confederated 
sovereign  states;  and  last  of  all,  to  form  treaties 
with  foreign  powers.  But  I  fear  we  cannot  pro 
ceed  systematically,  and  that  we  shall  be  obliged 
to  declare  ourselves  independent  States  before  we 
confederate,  and  indeed  before  all  the  colonies  have 
established  their  governments. 

"It  is  now  pretty  clear  that  all  these  measures 
will  follow  one  another  in  a  rapid  succession,  and 
it  may  not  perhaps  be  of  much  importance  which 
is  done  first. 

"  The  importance  of  an  immediate  application  to 
the  French  court  was  clear ;  and  I  am  very  much 
obliged  to  you  for  your  hint  of  the  route  by  the 
Mississippi.  Your  intimation  that  the  session  of 
your  representative  body  would  be  long,  gave  me 
great  pleasure,  because  we  all  look  up  to  Virginia  for 
examples ;  and  in  the  present  perplexities,  dangers, 
and  distresses  of  our  country,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
supreme  councils  of  the  colonies  should  be  almost 
constantly  sitting.  Some  colonies  are  not  sensible 
of  this ;  and  they  will  certainly  suffer  for  their  in 
discretion.  Events  of  such  magnitude  as  those 
which  present  themselves  now  in  such  quick  suc 
cession,  require  constant  attention  and  mature  de 
liberation.  The  little  pamphlet  you  mention,  which 
was  published  here  as  an  antidote  to  the  "  Thoughts 
on  Government,"  and  which  is  whispered  to  have 
been  the  joint  production  of  one  native  of  Virginia, 
and  two  natives  of  New  York,  I  know  not  how 
truly,  will  make  no  fortune  in  the  world.  It  is  too 
absurd  to  be  considered  twice  ;  it  is  contrived  to  in 
volve  a  colony  in  eternal  war. 

"  The  dons,  the  bashaws,  the  grandees,  the  patri- 


416  PATRICK   HENRY. 

cians,  the  sachems,  the  nabobs,  call  them  by  what 
name  you  please,  sigh,  and  groan,  and  fret,  and 
sometimes  stamp,  and  foam,  and  curse,  but  all  in 
vain.  The  decree  is  gone  forth,  and  it  cannot  be  re 
called,  that  a  more  equal  liberty  than  has  prevailed 
in  other  parts  of  the  earth,  must  be  established  in 
America.  That  exuberance  of  pride  which  has  pro 
duced  an  insolent  domination  in  a  few,  a  very  few, 
opulent,  monopolizing  families,  will  be  brought 
down  nearer  to  the  confines  of  reason  and  modera 
tion,  than  they  have  been  used  to.  This  is  all  the 
evil  which  they  themselves  will  endure.  It  will  do 
them  good  in  this  world,  and  in  every  other.  For 
pride  was  not  made  for  man,  only  as  a  tormentor. 

"  I  shall  ever  be  happy  in  receiving  your  advice 
by  letter,  until  I  can  be  more  completely  so  in  see 
ing  you  here  in  person,  which  I  hope  will  be  soon. 

"  Yours  &c. 

l<  JOHN  ADAMS." 

"  To  PATRICK  HENRY  ESQ. 

It  has  been  thought  strange  that  Mr.  Henry 
should  write  on  May  20,  that  he  could  not  count 
upon  one  coadjutor  equal  to  the  task  of  framing  a 
constitution,  when  he  had  on  the  committee  with 
him  George  Mason.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  Colonel  Mason  had  been  so  recently  put  upon 
the  committee  that  in  all  probability  he  had  not 
met  with  it,1  and  that  Mr.  Henry  had  never  served 
with  him  in  any  body,  except  for  some  two  weeks 
in  the  convention  in  August,  1775,  when  no  ques 
tions  were  discussed  calculated  to  draw  out  his 
abilities  as  a  statesman  ;  and  besides,  Colonel  Mason 
won  his  great  reputation  after  the  date  of  Mr. 
Henry's  letter,  and  mainly  by  his  services  in  this 

1  He  was  added  to  the  Committee  on  Saturday,   and  this  letter  was 
probably  written  early  on  Monday. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  417 

Convention.  That  Mr.  Henry  had  already  a  high 
appreciation  of  him  is  shown  by  his  urging  him  as 
delegate  to  Congress  in  August,  1775,  and  in  after 
life  he  rated  him  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  statesmen. 

o 

The  pamphlets  referred  to  in  the  preceding  let 
ters  throw  a  strong  light  upon  the  labors  of  the 
Convention,  as  they  show  the  different  plans  of 
government  before  it. 

The  publication  of  Mr.  Adams  declares  that  form 
of  government  to  be  the  best,  which  communicates 
ease,  comfort,  security,  or  in  one  word,  happiness,  to 
the  greatest  number  of  persons,  and  in  the  highest 
degree ;  that  the  happiness  and  dignity  of  mankind 
consist  in  virtue  ;  that  while  fear  is  the  foundation 
of  monarchy,  and  honor  of  aristocracy,  virtue  is  the 
foundation  of  republican  government ;  and  as  the 
definition  of  a  republic  is  "  an  empire  of  laws,  and 
not  of  men,7'  that  form  is  best  which  secures  an 
impartial  and  exact  execution  of  the  laws.  It  then 
suggests  the  following  plan  of  a  democratic  repub 
lic  : 

"  1.  A  House  of  Representatives  to  be  chosen  an 
nually  by  the  people,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
represent  all  their  interests. 

"  A  council,  or  senate,  to  be  annually  elected  by 
the  lower  House,  and  to  have  a  negative  voice  in 
legislation.  In  his  letter  to  Mr.  Henry  Mr.  Adams 
suggested  that  their  terms  might  be  three  or  seven 
years. 

"  2.  A  governor,  to  be  an  integral  part  of  the  Leg 
islature,  to  be  elected  annually  by  the  two  Houses 
on  joint  ballot,  to  have  a  privy  council,1  with  whose 

1  In  Mr.  Adams's  pamphlet  the  Senate  was  to  constitute  the  Governor's 
Council,  but  K.  H.  Lee,  in  his  letter  of  April  20,  1776,  says  that  Mr. 
Adams  agreed  they  should  be  distinct. 


418  PATRICK   HENRY. 

consent  he  shall  act,  to  have  the  veto  and  pardoning 
powers,  and  to  be  commander-in-chief  of  the  forces. 
If  experience  showed  it  to  be  preferable,  he  might 
be  elected  by  the  people,  and  for  a  longer  term,  and 
after  serving  for  a  certain  time  he  might  be  ineligi 
ble  for  a  fixed  period. 

"3.  Judges,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor, 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  upper  House,  or 
by  joint  or  concurrent  ballot  of  both  Houses.  Their 
terms  should  be  for  life,  or  good  behavior,  and  their 
salaries  fixed  by  law.  The  judicial  power  to  be 
distinct  from,  and  independent  of,  both  the  Execu 
tive  and  legislative,  but  the  judges  to  be  liable  to 
impeachment  by  the  House  of  Representatives  be 
fore  the  Governor  and  Senate ;  and  upon  conviction 
to  be  removed  from  office,  and  otherwise  punished. 

u  4.  Lieutenant  Governor,  Secretary,  Treasurer, 
Commissary,  &  Attorney-General,  to  be  chosen  as 
was  suggested  in  the  case  of  the  Governor. 

"  5.  Justices,  and  all  other  officers,  civil  and  mili 
tary,  to  be  chosen  as  was  suggested  in  the  case  of 
Judges. 

"  6.  Except  sheriffs,  registers  of  deeds,  &  clerks  of 
courts,  which  should  be  chosen  by  the  freeholders 
of  counties." 

The  writer  urges  that  the  militia  be  armed  and 
trained,  and  the  counties  and  towns  be  provided 
with  the  munitions  and  equipments  of  war,  and 
laws  be  enacted  for  the  liberal  education  of  youth, 
especially  of  the  lower  class,  and  for  the  promotion 
of  frugality  among  the  people. 

Colonel  Lee  in  enclosing  the  Adams  pamphlet  to 
Mr.  Henry,  in  his  letter  of  April  20,  1776,  sent  also 
a  copy  of  a  handbill,  presenting  a  scheme  of  gov 
ernment  drawn  by  himself.  It  would  appear  by 
his  letter  that  he  thought  the  council  of  the  gov- 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  419 

ernor  should  be  distinct  from  the  upper  House, 
that  the  term  of  the  upper  House  should  be  longer 
than  one  year,  and  that  sheriffs  should  be  appointed 
as  formerly  in  Virginia,  that  is,  by  the  Governor, 
or  be  elected  by  the  freeholders  of  the  counties. 
In  other  respects  he  intimates  no  difference  from 
the  Adams  plan.  In  the  Virginia  Gazette  of  May 
10,  1776,  there  appeared  a  publication  which  was 
either  the  scheme  of  R.  H.  Lee,  or  was  drawn  by 
some  one  who  had  read  it  and  Mr.  Adams's  paper. 
The  provisions  are  strikingly  like  those  of  the  lat 
ter,  and  those  concerning  the  impeachment  of  Judges 
are  similar  in  phraseology.  As  Mr.  Henry  had  pre 
viously  received  the  letter  of  R.  H.  Lee,  it  is  highly 
probable  that  he  inserted  the  publication  in  the  Ga 
zette.  It  is  so  nearly  the  plan  of  Mr.  Adams,  as 
modified  by  the  suggestions  of  Colonel  Lee,  that  if 
it  was  not  Colonel  Lee's  paper  it  was  doubtless 
drawn  by  Mr.  Henry  from  the  two  papers.  It  is 
as  follows : 

"  A  Government  Scheme. 

"  1.  Let  the  people  choose,  as  usual  (where  there  is 
no  good  objection)  a  representative  body.  Let  the 
representatives  choose,  by  ballot,  24  men  for  an 
Upper  House,  for  seven  years. 

"  2.  Let  the  two  Houses,  by  joint  ballot,  choose 
a  governour  for  one  year.  Let  this  be  the  legislative 
power. 

"Let  the  Governour's  Council,  or  Council  of 
State,  consist  of  12  men,  to  be  promiscuously  chosen 
from  both  the  Middle  and  Lower  Houses,  by  joint 
ballot  of  both  Houses  annually. 

"  3.  Let  the  Colony  Judges  be  chosen  by  joint  bal 
lot  of  both  Houses,  to  continue  during  good  behav 
iour,  with  fixed,  adequate,  but  not  splendid  salaries. 


420  PATRICK  HENRY 

"  If  accused  of  misbehaviour  by  the  representa 
tives  of  the  people,  before  the  Governour  and  Upper 
House,  they  should  have  an  opportunity  of  defend 
ing  themselves.  If  the  charge  is  supported,  and 
they  found  guilty,  they  should  be  dismissed  from 
the  offices,  and  subject  to  such  other  pains,  penalties, 
and  disabilities  as  shall  be  thought  proper ;  and 
these  ought  to  be  severe,  as  the  well-being  of  the 
community  depends  so  eminently  on  judicial  integ 
rity. 

"  4.  Lieutenant- Governour,  Secretary,  Commis 
sary,  Attorney,  and  Solicitor-General,  to  be  chosen 
septennially,  by  joint  ballot  of  the  Middle  and 
Lower  Houses. 

"  5.  Treasurer  to  be  chosen  annually,  by  joint 
ballot  of  Middle  and  Lower  Houses. 

"  6.  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  Sheriffs  to  be  ap 
pointed  by  the  Governour,  by  and  with  the  consent 
of  a  majority  of  the  Council  of  State.  Coroners 
and  Constables  as  usual,  if  no  good  objection. 

u  7.  The  Governour  with  advice  of  his  Council  of 
State,  to  possess  the  executive  powers  of  govern 
ment,  and  to  have  the  appointment  of  Militia 
Officers,  and  government  of  the  Militia,  under  the 
laws  for  regulating  the  Militia.'7 

The  address1  signed  "  A  Native,"  and  recommend 
ed  by  Carter  Braxton,  while  admitting  that  the 
object  of  government  should  be  to  secure  the  happi 
ness  of  every  member  of  society,  denies  that  it  is 
practicable  to  base  a  government  on  public  virtue. 
It  attempts  to  distinguish  public  from  private  vir 
tue,  and  denies  the  former  to  the  mass  of  the  peo 
ple.  The  British  constitution  of  1689  is  eulogized, 
and  the  closest  approximation  to  it  is  urged.  Demo 
cratic  governments  are  pronounced  inimical  to  ele- 

1  See  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  vi. ,  748,  etc. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  421 

gance  and  refinement,  to  manufactures,  arts,  and 
sciences,  and  to  the  accumulation  of  wealth.  It 
recommends  the  following  plan  of  an  aristocratic 
republic : 

"  1.  A  House  of  Representatives,  to  be  chosen  by 
the  people  every  three  years.  This  body  to  choose 
out  of  the  colony  at  large  twenty-four  persons  to 
constitute  a  council  of  state,  or  senate,  who  are  to 
hold  their  places  for  life,  and  to  constitute  a  distinct 
and  intermediate  branch  of  the  Legislature.  No 
member  of  either  House  to  be  eligible  to  any  post 
of  profit,  except  that  of  treasurer. 

"  2.  A  Governor,  to  be  elected  by  the  Assembly, 
to  continue  in  office  during  good  behaviour,  and  to 
be  impeachable  by  the  two  Houses.  A  privy 
council  of  seven  to  advise  with  him,  who  are  not  to 
be  members  of  either  House. 

"  3.  Judges,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor 
with  the  advice  of  his  privy  council,  to  hold  office 
during  good  behaviour,  and  to  be  excluded  from  a 
seat  in  either  House. 

"  4.  A  Treasurer,  Secretary  and  other  great 
officers  of  state,  to  be  chosen  by  the  Lower  House, 
and  proper  salaries  to  be  assigned  to  them,  as  well 
as  to  the  judges. 

"  5.  Military,  and  other  inferior  civil  officers,  to 
be  appointed  by  the  Governor. 

"  6.  Courts  to  appoint  their  own  clerks,  and  the 
justices  of  the  peace  to  receive  pay  for  their  services, 
and  to  be  required  to  meet  every  three  months  for 
the  dispatch  of  business." 

It  appears  from  Mr.  Henry's  letters  that  his  favor- 
ite  democratic  scheme  had  "many  and  powerful 
enemies"  at  first.  Colonel  Mason  seems  to  have 
declared  himself  for  it,  however,  upon  taking  his 


422  PATRICK  HENRY. 

seat,  and  the  ablest  men  in  the  Convention  united 
with  Mr.  Henry  in  urging  it.  This  appears  from 
the  letter  of  John  Augustine  Washington  to  R.  H. 
Lee,  dated  May  18,  1776.  He  says:  "I  hope  the 
great  business  of  forming  a  well  regulated  Govern 
ment  will  go  on  well,  as  I  think  there  will  be  no 
great  difference  of  opinion  among  our  best  speakers, 
Henry,  Mason,  Mercer,  Dandridge,  Smith,  and  I  am 
apt  to  think  the  president  will  concur  with  them  in 
sentiment." 1 

The  struggle  in  the  select  committee  seems  to 
have  resulted,  soon  after  Mr.  Henry  wrote  the  fore 
going  letters,  in  a  victory  for  a  democratic  over  an 
aristocratic  plan,  and  the  work  of  framing  a  Bill  of 
Rights,  suited  to  a  democratic  Republic,  was  en 
tered  upon  at  once.  George  Mason  soon  came  for 
ward  with  a  draft  which  has  justly  entitled  him  to 
be  enrolled  among  the  great  statesmen  of  the  world. 
The  importance  of  this  paper,  which,  after  some 
amendments,  was  adopted  by  the  Convention  and 
became  the  basis  of  civil  government  in  America, 
gives  an  interest  to  all  that  remains  to  us  touching 
its  passage  through  the  body. 

Edmund  Randolph  says:2  "Many  projects  of  a 
bill  of  Rights  and  Constitution,  discovered  the 
ardor  for  political  notice,  rather  than  a  ripeness  in 
political  wisdom.  That  proposed  by  George  Mason 
swallowed  up  all  the  rest,  by  fixing  the  grounds  and 
plan  which  after  great  discussion  and  correction 
were  finally  ratified."  It  would  seem  from  this 
passage  that  Colonel  Mason's  draft  was  brought 
forward  after  others  had  been  presented,  and  that 

1  See  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  November,  1858,  p.  330. 

2  MS.  History  of  Virginia. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  423 

it  embodied  their  best  features.  Happily  we  have 
a  copy  of  his  original  draft,  in  his  own  hand 
writing,  given  by  him  to  his  son,  General.  John 
Mason,  and  now  the  property  of  the  State.  There 
is  also  preserved  among  the  papers  held  by  his  de 
scendants,  a  copy,  partly  in  his  own  handwriting 
and  partly  in  the  handwriting  of  Thomas  Ludwell 
Lee,  of  the  paper  after  it  had  undergone  some 
amendments  in  the  select  committee,  but  before  it 
was  reported.  This  is  probably  the  copy  sent  to 
R.  H.  Lee  by  his  brother,  and  referred  to  in  his 
letter  of  June  1,  1776.1  The  select  committee  re 
ported  a  draft  on  May  27,  which  was  referred  to  a 
Committee  of  the  Whole,  and  ordered  to  be  printed 
for  the  perusal  of  the  members.  A  copy  of  this 
paper  was  preserved  by  James  Madison,  and  found 
among  his  papers.2 

On  June  10,  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  reported 
to  the  House  that  they  had  gone  through  the  con 
sideration  of  the  paper  laid  before  them,  and  made 
several  amendments.  These  were  agreed  to  the 
next  day,  and  on  June  12,  the  paper  so  amended 
was  put  upon  its  passage  and  agreed  to  nem.  con? 

Magna  Charta  either  granted  or  secured  very 
important  liberties  and  privileges  to  the  clergy, 
barons,  and  freemen  of  England,  but  as  to  the  most 
numerous  part  of  the  population,  styled  "  villeins  or 
rustics,"  it  only  provided  that  they  "shall  not  by 
any  fine,  be  bereaved  of  their  carts,  ploughs,  and 
implements  of  husbandry."  The  Bill  of  Rights  of 

1  See  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  November,  1858,  p.  325.     I  am 
indebted  to  Miss  K.  M.  Rowland  for  a  copy  of  this  paper. 

2  This  and  the  original  draft  will  be  found   in   llives's   Madison,  i. , 
Appendix  B. 

3  See  Appendix  III. 


424  PATRICK   HENRY. 

1689,  upon  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary,  was 
the  most  complete  statement  of  the  principles  of 
government  ever  attempted.  This  was  written  by 
the  great  Lord  Somers,  and  it  embodied  the  Peti 
tion  of  Eight  of  1628,  written  by  Sir  Edward  Coke. 
The  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights  contained  all  that  was  of 
value  in  these  celebrated  papers,  and  much  more,  and 
as  a  summary  of  the  rights  of  man,  and  of  the  princi 
ples  of  free  government,  stands,  and  is  destined  to 
stand,  without  a  rival  in  the  annals  of  governments. 

Each  section  of  this  remarkable  paper  excites  our 
profoundest  interest. 

The  first  declares  the  equal  right  of  all  men,  by 
nature,  to  freedom  and  independence.  This  great 
truth  is  the  essence  of  democracy,  and  constituted 
the  foundation  upon  which  the  entire  system  rested. 
If  we  inquire  the  source  from  which  it  was  derived, 
we  find  it  in  Christianity.  This  alone  teaches  the 
absolute,  exclusive,  sovereignty  of  God,  and  the  com 
mon  origin  and  brotherhood  of  man.  From  it  we 
learn  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  but  looks 
upon  each  individual  as  entitled  to  the  same  rights, 
and  enforces  this  equality  by  his  command  to  every 
man,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

The  fact  that  this  declaration  would  determine 
the  character  of  the  new  government  was  at  once 
recognized,  and  the  advocates  of  an  aristocratic  sys 
tem  stoutly  resisted  it  in  committee. 

Thomas  Ludwell  Lee,  writing  to  his  brother  E. 
H.  Lee,  June  1,  1776,  says : 1 

"  I  enclosed  you  by  last  post  a  copy  of  our  declar 
ation  of  rights  nearly  as  it  came  through  Commit- 

1  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for  November,  1858,  p.  325. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  425 

tee.  It  has  since  been  reported  to  the  Convention,  and 
we  have  ever  since  been  stumbling  at  the  threshold. 
In  short,  we  find  such  difficulty  in  laying  the  foun 
dation  stone,  that  I  very  much  fear  for  that  Tem 
ple  to  Liberty  which  was  proposed  to  be  erected 
thereon.  But  laying  aside  figure,  I  will  tell  you 
plainly  that  a  certain  set  of  Aristocrats — for  we 
have  such  monsters  here — finding  that  their  ex 
ecrable  system  cannot  be  reared  on  such  founda 
tions,  have  to  this  time  kept  us  at  bay  on  the  first 
line,  which  declares  all  men  to  be  born  free  and 
independent.  A  number  of  absurd  or  unmeaning 
alterations  have  been  proposed.  The  words  as  they 
stand  are  approved  by  a  very  great  majority,  yet 
by  a  thousand  masterly  fetches  and  stratagems  the 
business  has  been  so  delayed,  that  the  first  clause 
stands  yet  unassented  to  by  the  Convention." 

Edmund  Randolph  makes  the  following  note 
upon  the  section.1 

"  The  declaration  in  the  first  article  of  the  bill  of 
lights,  that  all  men  are  by  nature  equally  free  and 
independent,  was  opposed  by  Robert  Carter  Nicho 
las,  as  being  the  forerunner  or  pretext  of  civil  con 
vulsion.  It  was  answered,  perhaps  with  too  great 
indifference  to  futurity,  and  not  without  inconsist 
ency,  that  with  arms  in  our  hands,  asserting  the 
general  rights  of  man,  we  ought  not  to  be  too  nice 
and  too  much  restricted  in  the  delineation  of  them  ; 
but  that  slaves,  not  being  constituent  members  of 
society,  could  never  pretend  to  any  benefit  from 
such  a  maxim." 

The  Convention  were  determined  to  build  upon 
this  broad  foundation,  but  drew  back  from  the  con- 

1  MS.  History  of  Virginia. 


426  PATRICK  HENRY. 

elusion  that  slaves  could  claim  the  civil  rights  it 

o 

insured,  classing  them  with  infants  and  imbeciles. 
Within  less  than  a  century,  however,  the  logic  of 
events  has  applied  the  maxim  to  citizens  of  all  races 
in  the  United  States. 

The  first  section  also  declares  that  men  have  an 
inalienable  right  to  enjoy  life,  liberty,  property,  and 
happiness.  This  great  democratic  principle  is  also 
the  gift  of  Christianity.  The  essential  rights  of  man 
grow  out  of  his  nature,  capacities,  relations,  duties, 
and  destiny.  It  is  from  the  teachings  of  Christian 
ity  as  to  these  that  we  derive  a  just  conception  of 
his  inalienable  rights. 

The  second  section,  which  is  a  corollary  of  the 
first,  declares  all  power  to  be  vested  in,  and  derived 
from,  the  people ;  and  that  magistrates  are  but  their 
servants.  This  places  the  pyramid  of  civil  power 
on  its  true  basis,  the  people.  The  world  had  long 
been  accustomed  to  see  governments  resting  on  the 
false  and  narrow  principle  that  all  power  was  de 
rived  from  the  rulers,  and  that  the  people  were  only 
their  servants.  Now  the  reverse  was  declared  to  be 
the  true  principle  underlying  government. 

The  third  section  declares,  that  government  should 
be  for  the  common  weal,  that  form  being  best  which 
most  conduces  to  this,  and  is  most  effectually  se 
cured  against  maladministration ;  and  the  right  of 
the  majority  to  control,  and  to  change  any  form 
found  to  be  inadequate.  This  is  also  a  corollary  of 
the  first  section.  The  rule  that  the  majority  must 
govern,  is  but  an  application  to  politics  of  the  great 
principle  of  physics,  that  the  greater  force  controls 
the  motion  of  the  body.  These  sections  proclaim 
the,  great  political  maxim  that  government  should 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  427 

be  by  the  people,  through  the  people,  and  for  the 
people,  and  justify  the  American  Revolution. 

The  fourth  section  explodes  the  idea  of  an  inheri 
tance  in  office,  and  places  the  right  to  fill  it  on  its 
true  basis,  merit. 

The  fifth  section  separates  the  legislative  and  ex 
ecutive  from  the  judicial  department,  and  requires 
the  members  of  the  two  first  to  be  reduced  to  pri 
vate  stations  at  fixed  periods.  This  was  a  radical 
change  of  the  system  which  had  prevailed  in  the 
Colony,  where  the  Governor  and  his  Council  were  a 
most  important  part  of  the  judiciary,  and  held  office 
for  life.  As  the  purity  and  independence  of  the 
judiciary  are  of  vital  importance  in  any  system  of 
good  government,  so  these  can  never  be  so  well  pre 
served  as  by  the  complete  separation  of  this  from 
the  other  departments  of  government.  Experience 
has  demonstrated  the  wisdom  of  the  separation. 
The  limitation  of  the  terms  of  the  legislative  and 
executive  departments  to  fixed  periods,  as  a  means 
of  preserving  the  control  of  the  people  over  their 
servants,  is  not  only  a  wise  provision,  but  the  only 
conceivable  way  of  securing  the  responsibility  of 
the  incumbents.  The  principles  of  this  section  were 
distinctly  set  forth  in  the  pamphlet  of  John  Adams, 
of  which  mention  has  been  made. 

The  sixth  section  guarantees  freedom,  of  elections, 
and  in  this  copies  the  Bill  of  Rights,  but  it  goes 
further  in  extending  the  right  of  suffrage  to  all 
having  a  permanent  common  interest  in  the  com 
munity,  a  great  advance  upon  British  suffrage.  It 
also  embodies  the  principle  that  no  law  is  binding 
upon  the  people  which  has  not  been  assented  to  by 
them  through  their  chosen  representatives,  which 


428  PATRICK   HENRY. 

was  so  distinctly  set  forth  in  Mr.  Henry's  resolu 
tions  against  the  Stamp  Act  in  1765,  and  which- was 
the  principle  upon  which  the  Revolution  was  being 
fought. 

The  seventh  section,  which  declares  that  the 
power  of  suspending  laws  should  only  be  exercised 
by  that  body  to  which  is  entrusted  the  power  of 
making  laws,  embodies  a  principle  found  in  the 
Bill  of  Rights,  and  is  essential  to  the  proper  admin 
istration  of  representative  government. 

The  eighth  section  secures  to  every  man  the  right 
to  a  speedy  and  impartial  trial  before  a  jury,  in  all 
criminal  prosecutions,  and  provides  that  he  shall  not 
be  deprived  of  his  liberty  except  by  the  law  of  the 
land,  or  the  judgment  of  his  peers.  This  was  a 
right  secured  in  the  British  constitution. 

The  ninth  section,  which  prohibits  excessive  bail 
and  fines,  and  cruel  and  unusual  punishments,  was 
also  borrowed  from  the  Bill  of  Rights. 

The  tenth  section,  which  prohibits  general  war 
rants,  was  dictated,  according  to  Edmund  Ran 
dolph,  by  the  remembrance  of  the  seizure  of  Wilkes's 
papers  under  a  warrant  from  the  Secretary  of  State ; 
but  the  experience  of  the  Colonies  themselves,  and 
the  eloquent  protest  of  James  Otis,  in  November, 
1761,  were  sufficient  to  account  for  the  section, 
without  looking  across  the  ocean  for  a  reason. 

The  eleventh  section  recommends  the  trial  by 
jury  as  the  best  mode  of  settling  civil  suits,  and 
shows  the  attachment  of  Virginians  to  the  methods 
of  English  jurisprudence. 

The  twelfth  section,  securing  the  freedom  of  the 
press,  was  inserted  on  the  motion  of  Thomas  Lud- 
well  Lee,  and  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  the 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  429 

paper.  It  is  said  that  Cecil,  Elizabeth's  celebrated 
minister,  after  mature  deliberation,  established  the 
first  newspaper  in  England,  for  the  purpose  of  cor 
recting  false  reports,  and  uniting  the  people  in  their 
resistance  to  the  Spanish  Armada.  The  new  power 
thus  called  into  existence  has  been  used  for  the  pro 
tection  of  the  rights  of  the  people  against  the  inva 
sion  of  their  own  government.  Nothing  has  con 
tributed  more  toward  the  great  changes  which  have 
since  taken  place  in  favor  of  civil  liberty.  The 
press  is,  in  fact,  a  component  part  of  the  machinery 
of  free  government,  and  that  it  should  be  free  seems 
self-evident.  The  sovereignty  of  the  people  having 
been  established,  the  freedom  of  the  press  follows 
as  a  necessary  consequence. 

The  thirteenth,  declaring  a  trained  militia  to  be 
the  proper  defence  of  a  free  state,  that  standing 
armies  in  times  of  peace  are  dangerous  to  liberty, 
and  that  the  military  should  be  in  subordination  to 
the  civil  power,  is  a  decided  improvement  on  the 
provision  in  the  English  Bill  of  Rights,  prohibit 
ing  standing  armies  in  times  of  peace,  without  the 
consent  of  Parliament.  These  last  two  sections 
were  the  fruits  of  genuine  democracy  and  of  histori 
cal  experience. 

The  fourteenth,  prohibiting  the  erection  of  a 
separate  or  independent  government  within  the 
bounds  of  Virginia,  proceeded,  according  to  Ed 
mund  Randolph,  "  partly  from  local  circumstances, 
when  the  chartered  boundaries  of  Virginia  were 
abridged  by  royal  fiats  in  favor  of  Lord  Baltimore 
and  Lord  Fairfax,  much  to  the  discontent  of  the 
people ;  and  partly  from  recent  commotions  in  the 
West." 


430  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Mr.  Randolph,  has  the  following  notice  of  the  re 
maining  sections : 

"  The  fifteenth,  recommending  an  adherence  and 
frequent  recurrence  to  fundamental  principles,  and 
the  sixteenth,  unfettering  the  exercise  of  religion, 
were  proposed  by  Mr.  Henry.  The  latter,  coming 
from  a  gentleman  who  was  supposed  to  be  a  dis 
senter,  caused  an  appeal  to  him,  whether  it  was  de 
signed  as  a  prelude  to  an  attack  on  the  established 
church,  and  he  disclaimed  such  an  object." 

The  fifteenth  bases  free  government  upon  the 
foundation  suggested  by  John  Adams  in  his  pam 
phlet,  "  the  noblest  principles  and  most  generous 
affections  in  our  nature."  They  all  may  be  consid 
ered  as  embraced  in  the  word  "  virtue,"  and  this  may 
be  taken  as  the  necessary  foundation  of  republican 
government,  without  which,  as  the  section  declares, 
it  cannot  exist.  No  thought  was  more  deeply  im 
pressed  upon  Mr.  Henry  than  this.  It  was  the  key 
to  his  political  life,  and  he  emphasized  it  by  his 
latest  act,  in  the  endorsement  he  left  upon  the 
copy  of  his  resolutions  against  the  Stamp  Act  found 
with  his  will.1  The  necessity  of  a  frequent  recur 
rence  to  fundamental  principles,  set  forth  in  this 
section,  is  a  conception  which  attests  Mr.  Henry's 
wisdom. 

The  sixteenth,  as  found  in  the  draft  proposed  by 
George  Mason,  and  adopted  by  the  Committee  of 
the  Whole,  is  in  these  words,  doubtless  as  drawn  by 
Mr.  Henry  : 

"  That  religion,  or  the  duty  we  owe  to  our  Creator, 
and  the  manner  of  discharging  it,  can  be  directed 

1  Ante,  81-2. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  431 

only  by  reason  and  conviction,  and  not  by  force  or 
violence ;  and  therefore,  that  all  men  should  enjoy 
the  fullest  toleration  in  the  exercise  of  religion,  ac 
cording  to  the  dictates  of  conscience,  unpunished 
and  unrestrained  by  the  magistrate,  unless  under 
the  color  of  religion  any  man  disturb  the  peace,  the 
happiness,  or  the  safety  of  society ;  and  that  it  is 
the  mutual  duty  of  all  to  practice  Christian  forbear 
ance,  love,  and  charity  towards  each  other." 

This  statement  of  the  rights  of  conscience  is  in 
almost  the  same  words  used  by  the  Independents  in 
the  celebrated  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines, 
and  the  word  "  toleration  "  was  of  course  used  in 
its  most  liberal  sense,  implying  the  non-interference 
of  the  State  with  the  Church. 

After  the  section  had  received  the  approval  of 
the  body  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  Mr.  Madison 
moved  in  the  House  to  substitute  the  following  in 
its  stead : 

"  That  religion,  or  the  duty  we  owe  to  our  Crea 
tor,  and  the  manner  of  discharging  it,  being  under 
the  direction  of  reason  and  conviction  only,  not  of 
violence  or  compulsion,  all  men  are  equally  entitled 
to  the  full  and  free  exercise  of  it  according  to  the 
dictates  of  conscience,  and  therefore  that  no  man  or 
class  of  men  ought,  on  account  of  religion,  to  be 
invested  with  peculiar  emoluments  or  privileges,  nor 
subjected  to  any  penalties  or  disabilities,  unless,  un 
der  color  of  religion,  the  preservation  of  equal  lib 
erty  and  the  existence  of  the  State  be  manifestly 
endangered." 

The  intention  of  the  mover,  as  he  tells  us,1  was 
"  to  substitute  for  the  idea  expressed  by  the  term 

1  Works  of  Madison,  i. ,  24.     Note. 


432  PATRICK   HENRY. 

'  toleration/  an  absolute  and  equal  right  in  all  to 
the  exercise  of  religion  according  to  the  dictates  of 
conscience."  It  was  a  proper  amendment,  as  the 
term  "  toleration,"  strictly  speaking,  implies  a 
power  in  the  civil  government  inconsistent  with 
religious  liberty. 

As  finally  adopted,  the  statement  of  the  prin 
ciple  is  in  the  words  of  the  first  draft,  while  the 
deductions  therefrom,  following  the  word  u  there 
fore,"  are  more  broadly  expressed,  and  the  word 
"  toleration "  is  omitted.  That  the  section  as 
adopted  was  a  more  exact  expression  of  what  was 
intended  by  the  body  in  the  draft  first  adopted,  is 
manifest  from  the  fact  that  the  paper  as  amended 
was  adopted  by  a  unanimous  vote.  The  full  force 
of  the  principle  thus  announced  was  not  at  once 
apprehended  by  the  Convention,  as  appears  from 
their  subsequent  history,  but  it  was  finally  devel 
oped  by  the  legislation  of  the  State  into  an  absolute 
divorce  of  Church  and  State,  which  wras  expressly 
based  upon  the  principle  inserted  by  Mr.  Henry. 
It  has  been  subsequently  engrafted  upon  every 
State  constitution,  and  upon  the  Federal  constitu 
tion  as  well,  the  latter  through  the  exertions  of  Mr. 
Henry,  as  will  be  seen.  The  great  principle  thus 
established  is  now  considered  "  the  chief  corner 
stone  of  the  American  system  of  government."  l  It 
is  not  only  so,  but  it  is  so  peculiarly  American,  that 
it  is  justly  described  as  the  contribution  of  America 
to  the  science  of  government. 

Freedom  of  religion  from  constraint  by  the  civil 

1  See  letter  of  Mr.  Bayard,  Secretary  of  State,  to  the  Austrian  Minister 
at  Washington,  dated  May  18,  1885,  rebuking  the  Austrian  Government 
for  refusing  to  receive  Minister  Keiley  because  his  wife  was  a  Jewess,  in 
which  this  statement  is  made. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  433 

power,  though  taught  by  the  Divine  Author  of 
Christianity,  was  not  enjoyed  by  his  followers. 
Neither  Jew  nor  Gentile  ever  admitted  the  prin 
ciple,  and  both  engaged  in  bloody  persecutions  of 
the  Christians.  For  three  hundred  years  persecu 
tions  raged,  threatening  to  exterminate  Christian 
ity.  In  the  fourth  century  the  Roman  Emperor 
embraced  the  faith  his  predecessors  had  vainly 
endeavored  to  destroy.  Thereafter  an  alliance  of 
Church  and  State  debased  Christianity,  and  Chris 
tians  became  the  persecutors.  The  Reformation  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  while  attempting  to  purify  the 
Church,  did  not  attack  this  source  of  its  corruption, 
but  rather  endeavored  to  entrench  it.  There  is  not 
a  confession  of  faith  framed  by  any  of  the  Re 
formers,  which  does  not  give  to  the  civil  magistrate 
coercive  powers  in  religion.  It  was  the  interference 
of  civil  governments  in  Europe  with  the  consciences 
of  men  which,  more  than  all  else,  peopled  America. 
Yet  so  fixed  in  the  minds  of  men  was  the  use  of 
force  to  control  conscience,  that  the  dissenters  who 
fled  to  America  for  an  asylum  from  persecution, 
were  themselves  prone  to  allow  no  dissent  from 
their  religious  views,  when  they  found  themselves 
in  power.  The  most  liberal  colonies  were  those 
founded  by  Lord  Baltimore,  William  Penn,  and 
Roger  Williams.  Baltimore  only  professed  to  make 
"  free  soil  for  Christianity.7' *  Penn  only  toler 
ated  those  who  believed  in  "  one  almighty  and 
eternal  God,  the  Creator,  Upholder,  and  Ruler 
of  the  World,"  and  denied  the  right  to  hold  office 
to  all  except  Christians.2  Williams' s  charter  was 
expressly  to  propagate  Christianity,  and  under  it 

1  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  iii.  523.     "  Laws  of  1082. 

28 


434  PATRICK  HENRY. 

a  law  was  enacted  excluding  all  except  Christians 
from  the  rights  of  citizenship,  arid  including  in  the 
exclusion  Roman  Catholics.1 

At  the  date  of  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights,  al 
though  more  than  one  sect  had  claimed  religious 
freedom,  and  an  absolute  divorce  of  Church  and 
State,  no  civil  government  had  ever  allowed  the 
claim.  Virginia  led  the  way  in  incorporating  into 
the  very  foundation  of  her  government  the  princi 
ple  upon  which  religious  liberty  is  based,  and  in 
doing  so  completed  the  great  reformation  commenced 
in  the  sixteenth  century. 

When  we  remember  that  a  large  number,  proba 
bly  a  majority,  of  the  Convention  were  members  of 
the  established  church,  we  may  well  be  surprised 
that  they  consented  to  this  section.  But  it  should 
be  remembered,  that  the  discussions  of  human  rights 
which  the  period  had  produced  had  caused  a  great 
enlargement  of  views,  in  all  classes,  on  the  subject  of 
religious  as  well  as  civil  rights,  and  the  growth  of  dis 
sent  in  the  Colony  had  become  so  great,  that  religious 
liberty  could  not  be  withheld  when  demanded  by 
such  a  leader  of  the  people  as  Patrick  Henry.  He 
seemed,  as  it  were  by  intuition,  to  know  when  the 
popular  mind  was  ready  for  every  political  move 
ment,  and  he  never  made  a  mistake  as  to  the  proper 
time  to  take  a  step  in  advance.  The  adoption  of 
this  principle  as  the  chief  corner-stone  of  American 
government,  and  its  subsequent  progress  in  other 
portions  of  the  world,  indicating  that  it  is  destined 
to  become  all-prevailing  as  Christian  civilization 
advances,  with  the  inestimable  blessings  which  flow 
from  it,  make  Mr.  Henry's  act  in  causing  its  inser- 

3  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  iii. ,  379. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  435 

tion  in  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights  the  most  impor 
tant  of  his  life.  If  it  had  been  the  only  act  of  his 
public  life,  it  was  sufficient  to  have  enrolled  his 
name  among  the  greatest  benefactors  of  the  race. 

An  article  is  found  in  the  paper  reported  by  the 
select  committee,  in  these  words : 

"  That  laws  havnng  retrospect  to  crimes  and  pun 
ishing  offences  committed  before  the  existence  of 
such  laws,  are  generally  oppressive,  and  ought  to 
be  avoided." 

This  was  proposed  by  Thomas  Ludwell  Lee,  a>s 
appears  from  his  letter  to  his  brother,  but  it,  or 
an  article  substituted  for  it,  was  defeated  by  Mr. 
Henry,  as  we  learn  from  Edmund  Randolph.  He 
says  :  "An  article  prohibiting  bills  of  attainder  was 
defeated  by  Henry,  who,  with  a  terrifying  picture 
of  some  towering  public  offender,  against  whom 
ordinary  laws  would  be  impotent,  saved  that  dread 
power  from  being  expressly  proscribed."  1 

Thns  was  completed  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights, 
which  stands  as  an  epitome  of  all  history  relating 
to  the  struggles  of  the  human  race  for  civil  and  re 
ligious  liberty,  and  a  prophecy  of  the  future  of  free 
government.  It  is  the  matrix  in  which  American 
governments  have  been  shaped,  and  as  long  as  they 
last  they  will  bear  testimony  to  the  wondrous  wis 
dom  of  its  framers. 

The  Bill  of  Rights  having  been  adopted  June  12, 
the  Select  Committee  applied  itself  to  the  task  of 
framing  a  Constitution  in  accordance  with  its  prin 
ciples.  The  same  master-hand  that  had  made  the 
first  draft  of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  made  the  first 

1  MS.  History  of  Virginia. 


436  PATRICK   HENRY. 

draft  of  the  Constitution.1  The  plan  presented 
by  Colonel  Mason  was  ordered  to  be  printed  by  the 
Committee,  in  order  that  it  might  be  read  by  the 
Convention.  A  copy  was  preserved  by  Mr.  Madi 
son,  and  is  found  in  his  works.2  On  comparison 
with  the  plan  previously  published  in  the  Gazette, 
and  with  the  Constitution  as  adopted,  it  shows  some 
differences  which  are  of  importance ;  but  it  is  appar 
ent  that  the  plan  of  Mason  was  framed  upon  the 
plan  published  in  the  Gazette,  whose  resemblance  to 
the  views  of  John  Adams  has  been  noted,  and  that 
the  Constitution  was  framed  upon  the  plan  presented 
by  Colonel  Mason,  following  more  closely,  how 
ever,  the  published  plan  in  some  important  partic 
ulars. 

The  following  may  be  noted  as  the  most  impor 
tant  differences  in  these  papers  : 

In  Colonel  Mason's  plan  the  right  of  suffrage  in 
choosing  the  Lower  House  of  the  Legislature  was 
confined  to  freeholders,  having  estates  of  inheritance 
of  at  least  one  thousand  pounds,  and  upward  of 
twenty -four  years  of  age,  with  a  provision  that  it 
might  be  extended  to  holders  of  leases  of  seven 
years,  and  householders  having  been  the  fathers  of 
three  children.  In  the  published  plan  the  right  of 
suffrage  for  this  body  was  "  as  usual "  in  the  Col 
ony.  This  was  confined  to  freeholders  of  fifty  acres 
of  unimproved  land,  or  twenty-five  acres  of  land  on 
which  there  was  a  settlement,  or  of  an  improved  lot 
in  a  town. 

By  the  Constitution  adopted  the  right  of  suffrage 
remained  as  then  exercised.  Thus  the  change  pro- 

1  This  is  stated  by  Edmund  Kandolph  in  his  MS.  History  of  Virginia. 

2  Vol.  i.,  p.  24. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  437 

posed  by  Colonel  Mason  was  disapproved,  but  the 
Convention,  in  this  great  experiment  of  republican 
government,  determined  to  trust  their  destinies  with 
the  men  who  had  an  interest  in  the  soil,  which  in 
their  judgment  was  alone  "  sufficient  evidence  of 
permanent  common  interest  with,  and  attachment 
to,  the  community." 

In  Colonel  Mason's  plan  the  Upper  House,  or 
Senate,  was  to  consist  of  twenty -four  members,  who 
were  to  be  elected  by  an  intermediate  body  to  be 
chosen  by  the  people,  and  to  be  divided  into  four 
classes,  one  of  which  was  to  go  out  of  office  at  the 
end  of  each  year.  By  the  published  p]an,  the  Sen 
ate  was  to  consist  of  twenty-four  members,  to  be 
chosen  by  the  Lower  House.  The  Constitution  re 
tained  the  number  twenty-four  and  the  rotation  by 
classes,  but  required  their  election  to  be  directly  by 
the  people,  and  at  the  same  time  that  the  Lower 
House  was  voted  for,  and  for  this  purpose  directed 
the  State  to  be  divided  into  twenty-four  election  dis 
tricts.  The  mode  of  selecting  the  Senate  was  a  ques 
tion  of  great  difficulty.  That  body  was  no  longer 
to  represent  distinct  classes  in  the  community,  as  did 
the  House  of  Lords ;  nor  a  distinct  authority,  as  did 
the  Colonial  Council ;  but  it  was  to  be  a  representa 
tive  of  the  people,  and  at  the  same  time  a  conserva 
tive  force  in  legislation,  and  a  check  upon  improper 
action  in  the  Lower  House.  The  Convention  deter 
mined  to  have  the  Senate  directly  elected  by  the 
people,  and  to  trust  to  the  longer  term  and  the 
rotation,  which  would  insure  a  majority  of  experi 
enced  members,  for  the  conservatism  desired.  Colo 
nel  Mason's  suggestion  that  all  bills  should  originate 
in  the  Lower  House,  and  money  bills  should  not  be 


438  PATRICK   HENRY. 

liable  to  amendment  in  the  Senate,  was  adopted. 
This  was  not  in  the  published  plan. 

By  Colonel  Mason's  plan,  the  election  of  Governor 
was  to  be  annually  by  joint  ballot  of  the  two  houses 
of  the  legislature.  This  was  in  accordance  with  the 
published  plan,  and  was  adopted  by  the  Convention. 
But  both  Colonel  Mason's  plan  and  the  Constitution 
gave  the  Executive  no  voice  in  the  enactment  of 
laws,  and  in  this  were  different  from  the  published 
plan.  Edmund  Randolph  states  1  that  Mr.  Henry 
urged  the  Convention  to  vest  in  the  Executive  the 
veto  power.  The  passage  from  Mr.  Randolph  is  as 
follows  : 

*  _"„  After  creating  the  office  of  governor,  the  Con 
vention  gave  way  to  their  horror  of  a  powerful 
chief  magistrate,  without  waiting  to  reflect  how 
much  stronger  a  governor  might  be  made  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people,  and  yet  be  held  with  a  repub 
lican  bridle.  These  were  not  times  of  terror,  in 
deed,  but  every  hint  of  power,  which  might  be 
stigmatized  as  being  of  royal  origin,  obscured  for  a 
time  a  part  of  that  patriotic  splendor  with  which 
the  movers  had  before  shone.  ]STo  member  but 
Henry  could,  with  impunity  to  his  popularity,  have 
contended  as  strenuously  as  he  did  for  an  executive 
veto  on  the  acts  of  the  two  houses  of  legislation. 
Those  who  knew  him  to  be  indolent  in  literary  in 
vestigations,  were  astonished  at  the  manner  in  which 
l^e  exhausted  the  topic,  unaided  as  he  was  believed 
to  be  by  any  of  the  treatises  on  government,  except 
Montesquieu.  Among  other  arguments,  he  averred 
that  a  governor  would  be  a  mere  phantom,  unable  to 
defend  his  office  from  the  usurpation  of  the  legis 
lature,  unless  he  could  interpose  on  a  vehement  im 
pulse  or  ferment  in  that  body,  and  that  he  would 

1  MS.  History  of  Virginia. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  439 

otherwise  be  ultimately  a  dependent,  instead  of  a 
co-ordinate,  branch  of  power." 

The  profound  knowledge  of  the  true  principles 
of  government  displayed  by  Mr.  Henry  in  each 
constitutional  Convention  in  which  he  sat,  shows 
not  only  much  more  extensive  reading  than  he  has 
been  credited  with,  but  that  accurate  thought  and 
thoroughly  poised  judgment  which  constituted  him 
a  statesman  of  the  highest  order.  The  revulsion 
which  had  seized  the  people  and  the  Convention 
against  kingly  prerogatives,  did  not  affect  his  clear 
judgment  as  to  the  proper  powers  to  be  entrusted 
to  the  Executive,  and  the  experience  of  America  has 
since  demonstrated  his  wisdom.  Not  only  is  the 
veto  power  vested  in  the  President  by  the  Federal 
Constitution,  but  very  few  of  the  States  of  the 
Union  now  withhold  this  power  from  the  Executive. 

The  Governor's  Council,  both  in  Colonel  Mason's; 
plan  and  in  the  Constitution,  wras  to  consist  of  eight 
members,  to  be  elected  by  joint  ballot  of  both 
Houses  of  the  Assembly,  two  members  to  go  out  of 
office  at  the  end  of  every  three  years.  By  the  pub 
lished  plan  the  number  was  fixed  at  twelve,  to  be 
annually  chosen  by  joint  ballot  of  the  two  Houses 
from  among  themselves. 

By  Colonel  Mason's  plan  the  two  Houses  were  to 
appoint  by  joint  ballot  the  judges  and  attorney- 
general,  to  serve  during  good  behavior,  and  the  treas 
urer  to  serve  for  a  term  of  one  year.  The  Consti 
tution  made  similar  provisions,  including  in  the 
officers  to  be  elected  by  the  legislature,  to  serve 
during  good  behavior,  a  secretary.  By  the  pub 
lished  plan  the  judges  and  treasurer  were  to  be 


440  PATRICK   HENRY. 

elected  and  to  serve  as  provided  in  the  Constitution, 
but  a  lieutenant-governor,  secretary,  commissary, 
attorney-general,  and  solicitor-general  were  to  be 
elected  septennially  by  joint  ballot  of  the  two 
Houses. 

By  both  plans,  and  by  the  Constitution,  justices 
of  the  peace  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor 
and  Privy  Council,  and  thus  all  seemed  agreed  to 
continue  that  admirable  system,  which  produced  a 
succession  of  judicial  officers  for  the  counties  such 
as  were  never  equalled  in  any  country,  and  which 
did  so  much  toward  making  Virginia  a  renowned 
commonwealth. 

A  provision  was  inserted  in  the  Constitution,  not 
found  in  either  plan,  fixing  the  boundaries  of  Vir 
ginia  by  the  charters  of  the  neighboring  Colonies. 
But  where  these  charters  did  not  touch  the  western 
and  northern  limits  of  the  State  they  were  claimed 
as  fixed  by  the  charter  of  Virginia  of  1609,  and  the 
treaty  of  1763  between  Great  Britain  and  France. 

By  the  charter  of  1609,  granted  by  King  James, 
the  limits  of  Virginia  were  fixed  at  two  hundred 
miles  northward,  and  two  hundred  miles  southward, 
from  Point  Comfort,  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  "  and 
all  that  space  and  circuit  of  land  lying  from  the  sea- 
coast  of  the  precinct  aforesaid  up  into  the  land 
throughout  from  sea  to  sea,  west  and  northwest." 

By  the  treaty  of  1763  between  England  and 
France,  the  Mississippi  River  became  the  western 
limit. 

In  addition  to  this  claim  of  territory,  purchases 
from  the  Indians,  except  on  behalf  of  the  public  by 
authority  of  the  Assembly,  were  prohibited. 

If  these  provisions  were  not  the  suggestions  of  Mr. 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  441 

Henry,  they  certainly  had  his  hearty  support.  His 
letter  of  May  20,  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  shows  that 
his  mind  had  already  grasped  the  importance  to  the 
Union  of  the  western  territory  and  of  the  Missis 
sippi  River,  and  we  shall  see  him  afterward  the 
uncompromising  advocate  of  the  sovereign  right  of 
the  State  to  her  western  territory,  and  of  the  free 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi. 

What  changes  were  made  in  Colonel  Mason's 
plan  by  the  Committee  we  have  no  means  of  know 
ing,  as  there  is  no  copy  of  their  report  in  existence. 
The  Journal  shows  that  the  Committee  reported  a 
plan  of  government  to  the  Convention  on  June  24, 
which  was  considered  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  on 
the  26th,  27th  and  28th,  was  reported  with  amend 
ments  on  the  28th  to  the  Convention,  was  then  or 
dered  to  be  transcribed  and  read  a  third  time,  and 
was  unanimously  adopted  on  the  29th.  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  in  a  letter  to  Judge  A.  B.  Woodward,  April  3, 
1825,  states  that  he  sent  to  Mr.  Pendleton  a  draft 
of  a  constitution,  which  was  received  on  the  day  on 
which  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  reported  to  the 
Convention,  and  that  owing  to  the  indisposition  of 
the  Convention  to  open  questions  which  had  already 
caused  troublesome  debates,  they  could  not  be  in 
duced  to  consider  his  suggestions,  except  that  his 
preamble  was  prefixed  to  the  paper  adopted.  A 
letter  of  George  Wythe  to  Mr.  Jefferson  has  been 
preserved,  dated  Williamsburg,  July  27,  1776,1  in 
which  the  following  passage  occurs : 

"When  I  came  here  the  plan  of  government  had 
been  committed  to  the  whole  House.  To  those  who 

1  Girardin's  History  of  Virginia,  p.  157,  note. 


442  PATRICK   HENRY. 

had  the  chief  hand  in  forming  it,  the  one  you  put  in 
my  hands  was  shown.  Two  or  three  parts  of  this 
were  with  little  alteration  inserted  in  that ;  but 
such  was  the  impatience  of  sitting  long  enough  to 
discuss  several  important  points  in  which  they 
differ,  and  so  many  other  matters  were  necessarily 
to  be  despatched  before  the  adjournment,  that  I 
was  persuaded  the  revision  of  a  subject  the  mem 
bers  seemed  tired  of,  would  at  that  time  have  been 
unsuccessfully  proposed.  The  system  agreed  to  in 
my  opinion  requires  reformation.  In  October  I 
hope  you  will  effect  it." 

Mr.  Jefferson's  plan  must  have  been  received 
therefore  the  day  that  the  Select  Committee  report 
ed,  which  was  the  24th,  and  not  when  the  Committee 
of  the  Whole  reported,  which  was  on  the  28th,  and 
at  the  close  of  the  consideration  of  the  papers. 
From  Mr.  Wythe's  letter  it  appears  that  while  in 
Committee  of  the  Whole  two  or  three  of  Mr.  Jeffer 
son's  suggestions  were  adopted.  They  doubtless 
are  embraced  in  the  differences  noted  between  Colo 
nel  Mason's  plan  and  the  paper  adopted. 

Richard  Henry  Lee,  \vhose  presence  in  the  Con 
vention  was  so  earnestly  desired  by  Mr.  Henry, 
Colonel  Mason,  and  others,  did  not  appear  in  his 
seat  in  all  probability  before  the  day  on  which  the 
Constitution  was  adopted,  as  the  Journal  notices  his 
presence  for  the  first  time  in  an  entry  of  his  ap 
pointment  on  a  committee  on  June  29.  His  aid  in 
the  great  work  was  rendered  by  correspondence. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Henry  took  an 
active  part  in  the  preparation  and  discussion  of 
both  the  Bill  of  Rights  and  the  Constitution,  and 
that  it  was  due  to  him,  in  a  great  measure,  that  the 


VIRGINIA   CONVENTION.  443 

latter  so  closely  resembled  the  plan  of  John  Adams, 
which  he  declared  was  an  expression  of  his  own 
sentiments.  That  these  papers  were  approved  by 
him  as  a  whole,  though  not  containing  all  he  may 
have  suggested,  appears  by  his  subsequent  corre 
spondence,  and  by  the  resistance  he  made  to  a  revi 
sion  of  the  Constitution  while  he  continued  in  pub 
lic  life. 

Mr.  Jefferson  criticised  the  Constitution  with 
much  severity  in  his  "  Notes  on  Virginia,"  but 
though  not  faultless,  it  remained  the  fundamental 
law  of  the  State  for  fifty-four  years,  a  length  of 
days  not  accorded  to  any  of  its  successors,  and 
under  its  wise  provisions  the  State  enjoyed  an 
amount  of  well-regulated  liberty  which  was  without 
precedent,  and  has  not  been  surpassed  under  the 
changes  which  have  been  made. 

Being  the  first  written  constitution  of  an  inde 
pendent  State  in  America,  it  was  taken  as  a  pattern 
by  all  the  other  States,  and  its  influence  is  also  dis 
tinctly  traced  in  the  Federal  Constitution.  When 
we  consider  the  novelty  of  the  experiment,  and  the 
times  in  which  it  was  formed,  we  cannot  but  ad 
mire  the  self-control,  the  calmness,  and  the  wisdom 
of  its  framers.  Nothing  could  have  demonstrated 
more  clearly  their  right  to  be  free  than  this  incon 
testable  evidence  of  their  capacity  for  self-govern 
ment. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.— 1776. 

Election  of  Patrick  Henry  as  Governor. — Letter  of  Acceptance. — 
Important  Ordinances  of  the  Convention. — Sickness  of  Gover 
nor  Henry. — Address  of  Congratulations  to  Him  by  the  First 
and  Second  Virginia  Regiments. — Similar  Address  by  the  Bap 
tist  Association. — Replies  of  Governor  Henry. — Importance  of 
the  Period  at  which  He  Entered  upon  His  Office.  Evidence  of 
His  Great  Executive  Abilities  Afforded  by  the  Journal. — State 
of  the  War  in  Virginia. — Dunmore  Driven  Away. — Indian  War 
on  the  Western  Border. — Expedition  Under  Colonel  William 
Christian. — Richard  Henderson's  Purchase  from  the  Indians. — 
His  Claims  to  Kentucky. — First  Appearance  of  George  Rogers 
Clark  in  Kentucky. — His  Visit  to  Governor  Henry. — Aid  Ex 
tended  Him  for  Kentucky. 

ON  the  same  day  that  the  Constitution  was 
adopted  the  Convention  proceeded  to  the  election  of 
a  Governor  and  Council.  For  the  office  of  Executive 
the  eyes  of  the  Convention  naturally  turned  toward 
Mr.  Henry,  who  not  only  had  "  set  in  motion  the 
ball  of  the  revolution,"  but  had  given  to  it  a  fresh 
impulse  at  every  critical  period  of  its  course. 

The  remnant  of  the  old  aristocracy,  represented 
in  the  Convention,  could  not  permit  his  elevation  to 
the  highest  office  in  the  commonwealth  without  a 
determined  effort  to  prevent  it,  and  we  find  re 
peated  in  the  feeling  of  envy  displayed  what  had 
occurred  when  Cicero  became  the  foremost  man  in 
Rome.1 

1  Sallust  says  of  the  election  of  Cicero  as  consul,  "  Nam  antea  pleraque 
nobilitas  invidia  sestuabat,  et  quasi  pollui  consulatum  credebat,  si  eum, 
quamvis  egregius,  homo  novus  adeptus  foret.  Sed,  ubi  periculum  ad- 
venit,  invidia  atque  superbia  postfuere." — ik  Bellum  Catilinarium,  xxiii." 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     445 

Thomas  Nelson,  the  president  of  the  old  Council, 
was  nominated  against  Mr.  Henry,  and  of  the  con 
test  Edmund  Randolph  says  : 1 

"  Nelson  had  been  long  secretary  of  the  Colony, 
and  ranked  high  in  the  aristocracy,  who  propagated 
with  zeal  the  expediency  of  accommodating  ancient 
prejudices,  by  electing  a  man  whose  pretensions  to 
the  chief  magistracy  were  obvious  from  his  being 
nominally  the  governor  under  the  old  order  of  things, 
and  out  of  one  hundred  and  eleven  members,  forty- 
five  were  caught  by  the  desire  of  bringing  all  par 
ties  together,  although  Mr.  Nelson  had  not  been  at 
all  prominent  in  the  revolution.  From  every  period 
of  Henry's  life  something  of  a  democratic  and  pat 
riotic  cast  was  collected,  so  as  to  accumulate  a  rate 
of  merit  too  strong  for  this  last  expiring  act  of  aris 
tocracy." 

The  vote  stood  for  Patrick  Henry,  Jr.,  60 ;  for 
Thomas  Nelson,  45  ;  for  John  Page,  I. 

George  Mason  doubtless  placed  Mr.  Henry  in 
nomination,  as  he  was  made  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  appointed  to  notify  him  of  his  election. 

The  Convention  on  the  same  day  elected  for  the 
Governor's  Council,  John  Page,  Dudley  Digges,  John 
Taylojk,  John  Blair,  Benjamin  Harrison  of  Berke 
ley,  Bartholomew  Dandridge,  Thomas  Nelson,  and 
Charles  Carter  of  Shirley.  On  the  next  day  Thomas 
Nelson  declined  "  on  account  of  his  age  and  infirm 
ities,"  and  Benjamin  Harrison  of  Brandon,  was  af 
terward  elected  in  his  stead.  The  refusal  of  Presi 
dent  Nelson  to  serve  on  the  Council,  shows  either  a 
chagrin  at  his  defeat,  and  an  unwillingness  to  serve 

1  MS.  History  of  Virginia. 


446  PATRICK   HENRY. 

on  the  Council  of  Governor  Henry,  or  such  an  infirm 
old  age  as  proves  the  desperation  of  Mr.  Henry's 
opponents  in  using  him  to  further  their  opposition. 

Edmund  Pendleton  was  certainly  among  Mr. 
Henry's  opponents,  if  not  their  leader.  We  learn 
from  Judge  Spencer  Roane  that  once  in  his  hearing, 
after  the  re  volution,  Pendleton  "  justified  himself 
for  not  offering  for  the  office  of  Governor  in  1776, 
on  the  ground  that  he  did  not  think  it  became  those 
who  pushed  on  the  revolution  to  get  into  the  first 
offices,  and  that  on  that  ground  he  voted  for  Secre 
tary  Nelson.  On  which,  feeling  that  the  remark 
was  aimed  at  Mr.  Henry,  I  (Roane)  replied,  that 
we  should  have  cut  a  pretty  figure  if  that  office  had 
been  given  to  a  man  who  was  no  Whig ;  as  Mr. 
Nelson  was  said  to  have  been."  1 

Mr.  Henry  made  no  effort  to  secure  his  election, 
indeed  was  so  deeply  impressed  with  the  responsi 
bilities  of  the  office  that  he  was  unwilling  even  to 

o 

appear  to  desire  it.  He  occupied  the  truly  patriotic 
ground,  that  the  office  was  neither  to  be  sought 
nor  refused. 

On  the  day  of  the  balloting  Mr.  Henry  was 
waited  on  by  the  committee  appointed  to  notify  him 
of  his  election,  and  his  reply  was  communicated  to 
the  Convention  by  George  Mason  at  its  next  sitting, 
Monday,  July  1.  It  appears  on  the  Journal  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  To  the  Honourable  tlie  President  and  House  of 
Convention. 

"  Gentlemen,  The  vote  of  this  day  appointing 
me  governor  of  the  commonwealth,  has  been  noti- 

1  MS.  Letter  to  William  Wirt  when  preparing  his  Life  of  Patrick  Henry. 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     447 

fied  to  me  in  the  most  polite  and  obliging  manner, 
by  George  Mason,  Henry  Lee,  Dudley  Digges,  John 
Blair,  and  Bartholomew  Dandridge,  esquires. 

"  A  sense  of  the  high  and  unmerited  honor  con 
ferred  upon  me  by  the  convention,  fills  my  heart 
with  gratitude,  which  I  trust  my  whole  life  will 
manifest.  I  take  this  earliest  opportunity  to  ex 
press  my  thanks,  which  I  wish  to  convey  to  you,  gen 
tlemen,  in  the  strongest  terms  of  acknowledgment. 

"  When  I  reflect  that  the  tyranny  of  the  British 
king  and  parliament  hath  kindled  a  formidable 
war,  now  raging  throughout  this  wide-extended 
continent,  and  in  the  operations  of  which  this  com 
monwealth  must  bear  so  great  a  part ;  and  that, 
from  the  events  of  this  war  the  lasting  happiness  or 
misery  of  a  great  proportion  of  the  human  species 
will  finally  result ;  that  in  order  to  preserve  this 
commonwealth  from  anarchy,  and  its  attendant  ruin, 
and  to  give  vigour  to  our  councils,  and  effect  to  all 
our  measures,  government  hath  been  necessarily  as 
sumed,  and  new  modelled  ;  that  it  is  exposed  to 
numberless  hazards,  and  perils,  in  its  infantine 
state  ;  that  it  can  never  attain  to  maturity,  or  ripen 
into  firmness,  unless  it  is  guarded  by  an  affectionate 
assiduity,  and  managed  by  great  abilities ;  I  lament 
my  want  of  talents ;  I  feel  my  mind  filled  with 
anxiety  and  uneasiness,  to  find  myself  so  unequal  to 
the  duties  of  that  important  office,  to  which  I  am 
called  by  the  favor  of  my  fellow  citizens  at  this 
truly  critical  conjuncture.  The  errors  of  my  con 
duct  shall  be  atoned  for,  so  far  as  I  am  able,  by 
unwearied  endeavours  to  secure  the  freedom  and 
happiness  of  our  common  country. 

"  I  shall  enter  upon  the  duties  of  my  office,  when 
ever  you,  gentlemen,  shall  be  pleased  to  direct ;  rely 
ing  upon  the  known  wisdom  and  virtue  of  your 
honorable  house  to  supply  my  defects,  and  to  give 
permanency  and  success  to  that  system  of  govern- 


448  PATRICK   HENRY. 

ment  which  you  have  formed,  and  which  is  so  wisely 
calculated  to  secure  equal  liberty,  and  advance 
human  happiness. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  gentlemen, 
"  Your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

"  P.  HENKY,  JUN." 


It  is  of  interest  to  observe  that  the  final  vote 
upon  the  question  of  independence  was  taken  in  the 
Continental  Congress  on  July  2,  and  that  before 
that  date  Virginia  had  declared  independence,  had 
formed  her  Constitution,  and  had  elected  her  Execu 
tive. 

The  Convention  in  a  few  additional  ordinances 
made  vigorous  preparations  for  the  prosecution  of 
the  war.  Salt  works  were  provided  for  in  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  State,  and  Congress  was  requested 
to  allow  exports  of  provisions  in  order  to  procure  a 
further  supply  from  abroad;  the  ninth  regiment 
raised  for  the  defence  of  the  frontier  was  increased ; 
and  six  additional  troops  of  horse  were  ordered  to 
be  raised  at  once;  the  entire  militia  of  the  State 
were  made  liable  to  be  called  into  service  by  proper 
officers  upon  an  invasion  or  insurrection  ;  a  Naval 
Board  was  established  with  powers  to  build  and 
superintend  a  navy ;  a  tax  of  one  shilling  three 
pence  was  imposed  upon  every  tithable  person,  and 
of  one  shilling  upon  every  one  hundred  acres  of 
land,  in  the  State,  and  an  issue  of  treasury  notes 
was  ordered  not  to  exceed  one  hundred  thousand 
pounds ;  the  penalty  of  death,  without  benefit  of 
clergy,  was  prescribed  for  counterfeiting  Continental 
bills  of  credit,  or  the  paper  money  of  any  of  the 
united  Colonies,  or  coin  ;  and  the  law  for  the  pun- 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     449 

ishment  of  the  enemies  of  America  in  the  State, 
was  amended  and  made  more  effectual. 

The  number  of  delegates  to  Congress  was  reduced 
to  five,  Benjamin  Harrison  and  Carter  Braxton 
being  left  out  at  the  election.  It  can  hardly  be 
doubted  that  Braxton  failed  of  a  re-election  because 
of  his  pamphlet  on  government,  so  severely  criticised 
by  Mr.  Henry;  and  it  may  be,  as  suggested  by 
Girardin,  that  Harrison  was  blamed  for  the  ap 
pointment  of  Dr.  Rickman  instead  of  Dr.  McClurg, 
as  Physician  and  Director-General  to  the  Conti 
nental  Hospital  in  the  State.  But  the  most  prob 
able  explanation  is  doubtless  found  in  the  sugges 
tion  of  Mr.  Henry  to  R.  H.  Lee,  in  his  letter  of  May 
20,  1776,  that  some  of  the  delegation  were  not  in 
accord  with  Colonel  Lee,  and  should  be  left  out. 
Lee  and  Harrison  were  unfortunately  not  in  full 
sympathy  in  their  political  views,  at  least  such  was 
the  belief  at  the  time.1 

The  Convention  felt  the  necessity  of  keeping  peace 
along  the  disputed  boundary  with  Pennsylvania, 
and  proposed  a  temporary  line  to  be  observed  till 
the  boundary  was  properly  settled.  Petitions  were 
presented  from  the  settlers  in  Kentucky,  then  called 
Transylvania,  complaining  of  the  acts  of  Richard 
Henderson  and  others,  who  claimed  a  large  territory 
under  an  alleged  purchase  from  the  Cherokee  In 
dians,  and  a  counter-petition  was  presented  by  Hen 
derson  and  his  partners.  The  Convention,  in  order 
to  settle  the  rights  of  all  such  claimants  to  her  terri 
tory,  appointed  commissioners  to  take  evidence  on  be 
half  of  the  State  against  the  several  claimants  under 
Indian  purchases,  and  in  the  meantime  it  was  ordered 

1  Randall's  Life  of  Jefferson,  i.,  ch.  iv.,  147. 


450  PATRICK   HENRY. 

that  actual  settlers  should  not  be  disturbed.  A  pe 
tition  was  presented  June  20,  1776,  from  sundry 
Baptists  in  Prince  William  County,  praying  "  that 
they  be  allowed  to  worship  God  in  their  own  way 
without  interruption ;  that  they  be  permitted  to 
maintain  their  own  ministers,  and  none  others  ;  that 
they  may  be  married,  buried,  and  the  like,  without 
paying  the  clergy  of  other  denominations."  Al 
though  this  was  in  every  part  the  logical  conclusion 
from  the  sixteenth  section  of  the  Bill  of  Rights  al 
ready  adopted,  yet  no  motion  appears  to  have  been 
made  to  grant  the  petition,  and  no  action  was  taken 
looking  toward  the  dis-establishment  of  the  Episco 
pal  Church.  On  the  contrary  the  Convention,  on 
July  5,  the  last  day  of  the  session,  directed  the 
prayers  in  the  service  of  that  church  to  be  altered, 
so  as  to  omit  all  acknowledgment  of  the  authority 
of  the  King,  and  to  pray  for  the  Magistrates  of  the 
Commonwealth  instead ;  thus  plainly  showing  that 
they  were  not  disposed  to  act  upon  the  principle 
of  religious  liberty  embodied  in  the  Bill  of  Rights 
until  the  general  sentiment  of  the  people  on  the 
subject  could  be  gathered.  Among  the  last  acts 
of  the  Convention  was  the  adoption  of  a  seal, 
with  the  appropriate  device  reported  by  George 
Mason.1 

1  As  recorded  in  the  Journal,  the  device  is  as  follows  :  u  VIRTUS,  the 
genius  of  the  commonwealth,  dressed  like  an  Amazon,  resting  on  a  spear 
with  one  hand,  and  holding  a  sword  in  the  other,  and  treading  on  TYR 
ANNY,  represented  by  a  man  prostrate,  a  crown  fallen  from  his  head,  a 
broken  chain  in  his  left  hand,  and  a  scourge  in  his  right.  In  the  exergon 
the  word  VIRGINIA  over  the  head  of  VIRTUS,  and  underneath  the  words, 
Sic  semptr  tyrannis.  On  the  reverse,  a  group,  LIEERTAS  with  her  wand 
and  pileus.  On  one  side  of  her  CERES,  with  cornucopia  in  one  hand  and 
an  ear  of  wheat  in  the  other.  On  the  other  side  ^ETERNITAS,  with 
globe  and  phoenix.  In  the  exergon  these  words :  Deus  nobis  ha'.c  otia 
fecit." 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     451 

The  spirit  which  presided  at  the  birth  of  the  State 
is  seen  in  the  following  record  found  in  the  proceed 
ings  of  June  25  : 

"  Whereas,  gaming  at  best  is  but  an  idle  amuse 
ment,  when  carried  to  excess  is  the  parent  of  ava 
rice,  dissipation,  profaneness,  and  every  other  passion 
which  can  debase  the  human  mind,  and  is,  therefore 
forbidden  by  the  Continental  Association  as  more 
peculiarly  improper  at  this  time,  when  our  impor 
tant  struggle  for  liberty  and  freedom  renders  the 
practice  of  the  most  rigid  virtue  necessary  to  sus 
tain  us  under  and  carry  us  through  the  conflict ; 
that  this  pernicious  and  destructive  vice  may  not 
prevail  among  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  our  army, 
the  morals  of  the  youth  therein  preserved  from  cor 
ruption,  and  they  restored  untainted  to  their  worthy 
parents,  who  have  cheerfully  spared  them  from  do 
mestic  endearments  to  the  assistance  and  protection 
of  their  country. 

"  Resolved  unanimously,  that  it  be  earnestly  rec 
ommended  to  the  general  or  commanding  officer 
of  the  Continental  troops  in  this  Colony  to  take 
such  steps  as  to  him  appear  most  proper  for  pre 
venting  profane  swearing,  all  manner  of  gaming, 
as  well  as  every  other  vice  and  immorality  among 
officers  and  soldiers  under  his  command ;  and  that 
it  be,  and  is  hereby  declared,  to  all  who  are  or 
may  be  candidates  for  offices,  civil  or  military,  in 
the  pay  of  this  Colony,  that  the  practice  of  gam 
ing  and  profane  swearing  will  ever  be  considered 
as  an  exclusion  from  all  public  offices  or  employ 
ments." 

On  July  5,  1776,  the  last  day  of  the  Convention, 
Governor  Henry  took  the  oath  of  office  prescribed 
by  an  ordinance  of  that  day.  He  left  Williams- 


452  PATRICK   HENRY. 

burg  directly  afterward  for  his  home  in  Hanover, 
doubtless  to  arrange  his  private  affairs  before  en 
tering  upon  the  duties  of  his  office.  If  not  sick 
when  he  left  the  capital,  he  was  taken  sick  soon 
after  reaching  his  home,  and  was  confined  to  his 
room  for  some  weeks.  His  convalescence  was 
made  known  by  the  following  announcement,  which 
appeared  in  the  Gazette  of  August  2  :  "  We  have 
the  pleasure  to  inform  the  publick  that  our  worthy 
Governor,  who  is  now  at  his  seat  in  Hanover,  is  so 
much  recovered  from  his  late  severe  indisposition 
that  he  walks  out  daily,  and  it  is  hoped  will  soon 
be  able  to  return  to  the  seat  of  government,  to  at 
tend  to  the  duties  of  his  high  and  important  office." 
It  was  not  till  September  17,  however,  that  he  was 
able  to  take  his  seat  at  the  council  table,  as  ap 
pears  by  the  Journal. 

His  election  was  hailed  with  delight  by  the 
patriots  not  only  in  his  own  State,  but  throughout 
America,  as  appeared  by  letters  and  addresses  sent 
him.  Among  the  earliest  of  these  was  the  follow 
ing  cordial  address  from  the  two  regiments  he  had 
so  lately  commanded  : 


"  To  His  Excellency  Patrick  Henry,  Jun.,  Esq., 
Governor  of  the  Commomoealth  of  Vir 
ginia : — The  humble  address  of  the  First  and 
Second  Virginia  Regiments : — 

"  MAY  IT  PLEASE  YOUR  EXCELLENCY  :  Permit  us, 
with  sincerest  sentiments  of  respect  and  joy,  to  con 
gratulate  your  Excellency  upon  your  unsolicited 
promotion  to  the  highest  honours  a  grateful  people 
can  bestow. 

"  Uninfluenced  by  private  ambition,  regardless  of 


GOVERNOR  OF   VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     453 

sordid  interest,  you  have  uniformly  pursued  the 
general  good  of  your  country  ;  and  have  taught  the 
world,  that  an  ingenuous  love  of  the  rights  of  man 
kind,  an  inflexible  resolution,  and  a  steady  persever 
ance  in  the  practice  of  every  private  and  public 
virtue,  lead  directly  to  preferment  and  give  the 
best  title  to  the  honours  of  our  uncorruptecl  and 
vigorus  state. 

"  Once  happy  under  your  military  command,  we 
hope  for  more  extensive  blessings  from  your  civil 
administration. 

"  Intrusted  as  your  Excellency  is,  in  some  meas 
ure,  with  the  support  of  a  young  empire,  our  hearts 
are  willing,  and  arms  ready  to  maintain  your 
authority  as  chief  magistrate ;  happy  that  we  lived 
to  see  the  day,  when  freedom  and  equal  rights,  es 
tablished  by  the  voice  of  the  people,  shall  prevail 
through  the  land.  We  are,  may  it  please  your 
Excellency,  your  Excellency's  most  devoted  and 
obedient  servants." 


To  which  he  returned  the  following  admirable 
answer : 


"  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  FIRST  AND  SECOND  VIRGINIA 
REGIMENTS  :  Your  address  does  me  the  highest  hon 
our.  Be  pleased  to  accept  my  most  cordial  thanks 
for  your  favourable  and  kind  sentiments  of  my  prin 
ciples  and  conduct.  The  high  appointment  to  which 
my  fellow-citizens  have  called  me,  was  indeed,  un 
merited,  unsolicited.  I  am  therefore  under  increased 
obligations  to  promote  the  safety,  dignity,  and  hap 
piness  of  the  commonwealth. 

"  While  the  civil  powers  are  employed  in  estab 
lishing  a  system  of  government,  liberal,  equitable, 
in  every  part  of  which  the  genius  of  equal  liberty 
breathes  her  blessed  influence,  to  you  is  assigned 


454  PATRICK   HENRY. 

the  glorious  task  of  saving,  by  your  valour,  all  that 
is  dear  to  Mankind.  Go  on,  gentlemen,  to  finish  the 
great  work  you  have  so  nobly  and  successfully  be 
gun.  Convince  the  tyrants  again,  that  they  shall 
bleed,  that  America  will  bleed  to  her  last  drop,  ere 
their  wicked  schemes  find  success. 

"  The  remembrance  of  my  former  connexion  with 
you  shall  ever  be  dear  to  me.  I  honour  your  pro 
fession,  I  revere  that  patriot  virtue,  which,  in  your 
conduct,  hath  produced  cheerful  obedience,  exem 
plary  courage,  and  contempt  of  hardship  and  dan 
ger.  Be  assured,  gentlemen,  I  shall  feel  the  high 
est  pleasure  in  embracing  every  opportunity  to  con 
tribute  to  your  happiness  and  welfare ;  and  I  trust 
the  day  will  come  when  I  shall  make  one  of  those 
that  will  hail  you  among  the  triumphant  deliver 
ers  of  America. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be  gentlemen, 

"  Your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

"  P.  HENRY,  JR." 

The  Colonel  of  the  Second  Regiment  did  not  unite 
in  the  foregoing  address,  as  appears  by  the  follow 
ing  publication  in  Purdie's  Gazette  of  August  9 : 

"  Mr.  Purdie.  Let  the  public  know  that  Colonel 
Woodford's  name  was  not  among  the  subscribers  of 
the  address  to  the  Governour ;  that  it  was  not 
presented  as  containing  the  sentiments  of  the  col 
onel,  but  of  the  officers  and  their  men,  and  that  the 
colonel  was  not  consulted  on  the  occasion.  This 
piece  of  justice  is  demanded  by  the  colonel,  and 
cheerfully  granted  by  the  officers." 

Among  those  who  rejoiced  in  the  election  of 
Governor  Henry  were  the  Baptists,  whom  he  had 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     455 

so  constantly  befriended  in  the  days  of  their  per 
secutions,  now  happily  at  an  end.  An  association 
of  this  denomination  which  met  in  Louisa  sent  him 
the  following  admirable  address  : 

"  To  His  Excellency  Patrick  Henry,  Jun.,  Esq., 
Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia. 

"  The  humble  address  of  the  ministers  and  dele 
gates  of  the  Baptist  churches  met  in  Association  in 
Louisa,  August  12th,  1776,  in  behalf  of  their  breth 
ren. 

"  May  it  please  your  excellency,  as  your  advance 
ment  to  the  honorable  and  important  station  of  Gov 
ernor  of  this  Commonwealth  affords  us  unspeakable 
pleasure,  we  beg  leave  to  present  your  excellency 
with  our  most  cordial  congratulations.  Your  public 
virtues  are  such  that  we  are  under  no  temptation  to 
flatter  you.  Virginia  has  done  honor  to  her  judg 
ment  in  appointing  your  excellency  to  hold  the 
reigns  of  the  Government  at  this  truly  critical  con 
juncture,  as  you  have  always  distinguished  your 
self  by  your  zeal  and  activity  for  her  welfare  in 
whatever  department  has  been  assigned  you.  As 
a  religious  community,  we  have  nothing  to  re 
quest  of  you.  Your  constant  attachment  to  the 
glorious  cause  of  liberty  and  the  rights  of  con 
science,  leaves  us  no  room  to  doubt  of  your  Ex 
cellency's  favorable  regards,  while  we  worthily  de 
mean  ourselves. 

"  May  God    Almighty  continue  you   long,  very 
long,  a  public  blessing  to  your  native  country ;  ind 
after  a  life  of  usefulness  here  crown  you  with  im 
mortal  felicity  in  the  world  to  come. 
"  Signed  by  order, 

"  JEREMIAH  WALKER,  Moderator. 
*•  JOHIST  WILLIAMS,  Cleric" 


456  PATRICK   HENRY. 

To  this  Governor  Henry  made  the  following 
happy  reply : 

"  To  the  Ministers  and  Delegates   of  the  Baptist 
Churches,  and  to  the  Members  of  Communion. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  I  ain  exceedingly  obliged  to  you 
for  your  very  kind  address,  and  the  favorable  senti 
ments  you  are  pleased  to  entertain  respecting  my 
conduct,  and  the  principles  which  have  directed  it. 
My  constant  endeavor  shall  be  to  guard  the  rights 
of  all  my  fellow-citizens  from  every  encroachment. 

"  I  am  happy  to  find  a  catholic  spirit  prevailing 
in  our  country,  and  that  those  religious  distinctions, 
which  formerly  produced  some  heats,  are  now  for 
gotten.  Happy  must  every  friend  to  virtue  and 
America  feel  himself  to  perceive,  that  the  only  con 
test  among  us,  at  this  critical  and  important  period, 
is  who  shall  be  foremost  to  preserve  our  religious 
and  civil  liberties.  My  earnest  wish  is,  that  Chris 
tian  charity,  forbearance  and  love  may  unite  all  dif 
ferent  persuasions  as  brethren  who  must  perish  or 
triumph  together ;  and  I  trust  that  the  time  is  not 
far  distant  when  we  shall  greet  each  other  as  peace 
able  possessors  of  that  just  and  equal  system  of  lib 
erty  adopted  by  the  last  Convention,  and  in  support 
of  which  may  God  crown  our  arms  with  success. 
"  I  am,  gentlemen, 

"  Your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

"  P.  HENRY,  JUN. 

"Aug.  13th  1776." 

Among  the  letters  addressed  to  him,  there  was 
one  from  General  Charles  Lee,  dated  July  20, 1776, 
in  the  peculiar  style  of  that  eccentric  man,  which 
contained  the  following  passages  : 

"  I  used  to  regret  not  being  thrown  into  the  world 
in*  the  glorious  third  or  fourth  century  of  the  Ro- 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST   TERM.     457 

mans,  but  I  am  now  thoroughly  reconciled  to  my  lot. 
.  .  We  shall  now,  most  probably,  see  a  mighty 
empire  established  of  freemen,  whose  honour,  prop 
erty,  and  military  glories,  are  not  to  be  at  the  dis 
posal  of  a  sceptered  tyrant,  nor  their  consciences  to 
be  fettered  by  a  proud,  domineering  hierarchy. 
.  .  .  I  most  sincerely  congratulate  you  on  the 
noble  conduct  of  your  countrymen ;  and  I  congratu 
late  your  country  on  having  citizens  deserving  of  the 
high  honor  to  which  you  are  exalted ;  for  the  being 
elected  to  the  first  magistracy  of  a  free  people  is 
certainly  the  pinnacle  of  human  glory ;  and  I  am 
persuaded  that  they  could  not  have  made  a  happier 
choice." 

He  then  proceeded  to  object  to  the  provision  of 
the  Constitution,  which  allows  the  Governor  to  be 
eligible  for  three  successive  terms,  and  to  the  cus 
tom  of  addressing  officers  by  such  titles  as  "  Ex 
cellency,"  u  Honour,"  and  the  like. 

Public  opinion  was  not  ready,  however,  for  the 
abolition  of  official  titles,  and  as  to  the  office  of  Gov 
ernor,  the  people  were  not  willing  that  it  should  be 
less  honored  in  a  republican  state  than  in  a  royal 
colony.  The  Convention  fixed  the  Governor's  salary 
at  one  thousand  pounds  per  annum,  the  sum  re 
ceived  by  his  predecessors,  and  ordered  that  a  thou 
sand  pounds  be  expended  in  furnishing  the  palace 
for  his  residence.  In  deference  to  this  state  of  pub 
lic  sentiment,  and  as  if  in  rebuke  of  that  aristocratic 
coterie  which  had  pronounced  him  too  plain  for  the 
office,  Governor  Henry,  while  retaining  his  simplic 
ity  and  affability  of  manner,  now  assumed  a  dignity 
of  demeanor  which  commanded  the  admiration  of 
all.  He  could  no  longer  be  remarked  on  for  his 
plainness  in  dress.  He  seldom  appeared  on  the 


458  PATRICK   HENRY. 

streets  of  Williamsburg,  and  never  without  a  scar 
let  cloak,  black  clothes,  and  a  dressed  wig.1 

Governor  Henry  was  called  to  the  office  of  Exec 
utive  of  his  State  at  the  most  important  and  critical 
period  possible  in  her  history.  With  a  population 
of  about  four  hundred  thousand,2  nearly  one-half 
slaves,  she  was  entering  upon  her  existence  as  a  sov 
ereign  State,  under  an  untried  form  of  government, 
in  the  midst  of  a  terrible  struggle  for  separate  exist 
ence  with  one  of  the  strongest  of  earthly  powers ; 
with  powerful  tribes  of  hostile  Indians  occupying 
her  northwestern  and  western  territory,  a  large  por 
tion  of  which  was  claimed  by  land  companies  under 
Indian  sales;  with  a  disputed  boundary  with  Penn 
sylvania  which  threatened  a  border  war ;  without  a 
trained  army,  or  what  could  .be  dignified  by  the 
name  of  a  navy ;  and  withal  lacking  in  munitions  of 
war.  The  position  required  executive  talents  of  the 
highest  order,  and,  fortunately  for  his  country,  Gov 
ernor  Henry  proved  to  be  more  than  equal  to  the 
occasion. 

The  Executive  Journal 3  furnishes  the  fullest  evi 
dence  of  his  industiy.  his  great  executive  capacity, 
and  his  ardent  zeal  in  the  cause  of  the  Revolution. 
It  is  rich  in  material  for  history,  but  only  some  of 
his  most  important  acts  can  be  narrated  here. 
From  these  the  reader  will  be  able  to  have  an  ap 
preciation  of  him  as  a  war  governor. 

1  MS.  Letter  of  Judge  Roane  to  Mr.  Wirt.  Judge  Roane  says  he  had 
been  ' '  accused  by  the  big  wigs  of  former  times  as  being  a  coarse  and 
common  man,  and  utterly  destitute  of  dignity,  and  perhaps  he  wished 
to  show  them  that  they  were  mistaken." 

3  This  estimate  is  taken  by  calculation  from  Query  viii.  of  Jefferson's 
Notes  on  Virginia. 

3  The  volumes  of  his  Journal,  except  for  1779,  are  preserved  in  the 
State  Library.  But  his  letter-book  for  the  first  three  years  is  lost. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     459 

The  hope  of  reconciliation  which  lingered  in  the 
breasts  of  some  of  the  men  in  high  positions,  had 
caused  a  lack  of  vigor  in  the  conduct  of  the  war 
that  came  near  ruining  the  cause  of  the  patriots. 
This  was  conspicuous  in  the  failure  of  Congress  to 
take  timely  steps  to  raise  an  army  enlisted  for  the 
war.  That  Governor  Henry  saw  the  danger  and 
was  aroused  by  it,  is  shown  by  his  correspondence. 
As  was  to  have  been  expected,  his  inauguration  was 
signalized  by  the  most  active  measures.  On  July  8, 
General  Lewis  attacked  Lord  Dunmore,  who  had 
taken  possession  of  Gwin's  Island  in  the  Chesapeake 
Bay.  Defeated  and  driven  from  the  island,  his 
Lordship  retreated  to  St.  George's  Island  in  the 
Potomac,  from  which  he  was  dislodged  by  a  detach 
ment  of  brave  Marylanders,  and  after  committing 
some  petty  depredations  along  the  shores  of  the 
river  and  bay,  he  sailed  out  of  the  Capes,  never  to  re 
turn  to  Virginia,  leaving  firmly  seated  in  the  Gov 
ernor's  chair,  in  his  stead,  the  man  he  had  but  a  few 
months  before  proclaimed  as  a  seditious  character. 

As  early  as  June,  1775,  John  Stuart,  the  superin 
tendent  of  southern  Indian  affairs,  and  General 
Gage,  concerted  a  plan  for  combining  all  the  western 
tribes  in  an  attack  on  the  rear  of  the  Colonies,  while 
the  British  forces  should  make  a  descent  on  the 
southern  seaboard.  This  plan  was  laid  before  the 
British  Cabinet,  and  by  it  approved,  and  early  in 
1776,  orders  were  issued  to  carry  it  into  execution.1 
In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  Sir  Peter  Parker  with  a 
British  squadron,  carrying  a  strong  force  under  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  appeared  before  Charleston,  and  the 

1  Ramsey's   History   of  Tennessee,  161,  citing   Stedman's  History   of 
the  American  War,  vol.  i. 


460  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Indians,  true  to  their  engagement,  upon  being  in 
formed  of  the  arrival  of  the  fleet,  took  the  warpath, 
and  invaded  the  western  frontier,  from  Georgia  to 
the  head  of  the  Holston  in  Virginia.  The  leaders 
in  this  invasion  were  the  Cherokees,  the  most  war 
like  and  enterprising  of  the  native  tribes,  who  were 
accustomed,  by  their  long  intercourse  with  the 
whites,  to  the  use  of  small- arms,  and  some  of  the 
modes  of  civilized  war.  They  were  led  by  Oconos- 
tota,  Dragging  Canoe,  and  The  Haven,  chiefs  of 
marked  abilities.  On  June  28,  the  attack  of  Sir 
Peter  Parker  on  Sullivan's  Island,  in  Charleston 
Harbor,  was  repulsed  by  the  Americans  under 
General  Charles  Lee,  and  the  intelligence  of  this 
victory  had  a  happy  effect  in  checking  the  Indian 
invasion  of  Georgia,  but  the  parties  which  had 
fallen  upon  western  North  Carolina  were  not  so 
easily  diverted  from  their  purpose  of  blood  and 
plunder. 

A  most  remarkable  settlement  had  been  effected 
some  six  years  before,  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  on 
the  Watauga,1  by  some  families  from  Fairfax  County, 
Virginia,  and  there  had  gathered  around  it,  from 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  a  community  of  he 
roes  whose  courage  and  daring  have  never  been  sur 
passed.  This  advance-guard  of  civilization  had  for 
their  leaders  three  men  of  genius  and  daring  sufficient 
for  any  emergency.  They  were  John  Sevier,  James 
Robertson,  and  Isaac  Shelby,  names  worthy  of  all 
honor,  because  of  their  eminent  services  in  the  strug 
gle  for  American  liberty.  Two  forts  had  been  erected 
to  protect  the  settlers,  one  on  the  banks  of  the  Wa 
tauga,  called  Fort  Lee,  and  the  other  a  few  miles 

1  Edmund  Kirke's  Rear-guard  of  the  Revolution,  53. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     461 

to  the  northwest  on  the  Holston,  near  Long  Island, 
called  Heaton's  station. 

There  lived  among  the  Cherokees  a  woman  named 
Nancy  Ward,  said  to  have  been  a  half-breed,  who 
held  the  position  of  prophetess  of  the  nation.  Like 
another  Pocahontas,  she  determined  to  warn  the 
whites  of  the  danger  which  threatened  their  settle 
ments  from  the  savage  war  which  the  British  agents 
had  incited.  On  May  30,  1776,  she  told  Isaac 
Thomas,  a  trader,  of  the  hostile  determination  of 
the  nation,  and  urged  him  to  inform  the  settlers  at 
once. 

Thomas  immediately  communicated  the  intelli 
gence  to  the  settlements,  and  proceeded  to  inform 
the  Virginia  authorities  of  the  danger  and  the  need 
of  succor.  The  alarm  was  responded  to  by  men 
from  the  western  settlements  of  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina,  and  five  small  companies,  principally  Vir 
ginians,  promptly  marched  to  the  rescue.  These 
were  put  under  the  command  of  Captain  Thompson, 
who  was  found  to  be  the  oldest  officer  in  commis 
sion,  and  they  reached  Heaton's  Station  in  advance 
of  the  Indians.  On  July  20,  1776,  a  strong  force 
under  Dragging  Canoe  appeared  before  the  fort, 
and  the  garrison  determined  to  march  out  and  at 
tack  them.  This  bold  move  was  completely  suc 
cessful.  The  Indians  were  defeated  with  consid 
erable  slaughter,  and  their  chief  was  among  the 
wounded. 

On  July  21,  the  division  under  Oconostota  at 
tacked  Fort  Lee  and  suffered  a  repulse,  but  they 
continued  the  siege  for  several  days,  and  finally  re 
tired  upon  hearing  that  reinforcements  were  march 
ing  to  the  relief  of  the  fort. 


462  PATRICK  HENRY. 

Upon  being  repulsed  at  Heaton's  Station,  the  In 
dians  broke  up  into  marauding  parties,  one  of  which 
entered  the  valley  of  the  Clinch,  and  penetrated  as 
far  as  the  Wolf  Hills,  near  the  present  town  of 
Abingdon,  carrying  fire  and  massacre  into  every 
settlement. 

On  July  22,  the  Executive  Journal1  notes  the 
receipt  of  letters  from  General  Charles  Lee,  and 
John  Kutledge,  President  of  South  Carolina,  con 
veying  information  of  hostilities  committed  by  the 
Cherokees,  and  that  an  expedition  would  at  once  be 
sent  against  their  lower  towns  by  the  two  Carolinas, 
and  asking  Virginia  to  send  an  expedition  against 
their  upper  towns,  called  Over  Hill.  The  Council 
thereupon  ordered  Colonel  Charles  Lewis  with  his 
battalion  of  minute-men  to  march  for  that  purpose, 
and  on  August  1,  upon  hearing  of  the  depredations 
in  Clinch  Valley,  increased  the  force,  and  appointed 
Colonel  William  Christian  commander-in-chief  of  all 
the  forces  raised,  or  to  be  raised,  for  the  expedition, 
with  Evan  Shelby  as  his  major.  In  the  instructions 
given  to  Colonel  Christian,  he  was  directed,  in  case 
the  Indians  were  forced  to  sue  for  peace,  to  require  a 
sufficient  number  of  their  chiefs  and  warriors  as  hos 
tages  to  insure  the  performance  of  the  treaty,  and 
also  to  insist  on  their  giving  up  all  prisoners,  and  all 
persons  among  them  who  had  been  concerned  in 
bringing  on  the  war;  and  especially  Stuart,  Cam 
eron,  and  Gist,  the  three  British  emissaries  who  were 
believed  to  have  persuaded  the  Indians  to  go  upon 
the  warpath. 

The  place  of  rendezvous  appointed  for  Colonel 
Christian  was  the  Great  Island  in  the  Holston,  or 

1  Page  28. 


GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA.— FIRST   TERM.     463 

Heaton's  Station,  where  were  soon  gathered  several 
companies,  who  were  joined  by  three  or  four  hun 
dred  North  Carolina  militia  under  Colonel  Joseph 
Williams,  Colonel  Love,  and  Major  Winston.  To 
these  were  added  some  of  the  garrisons  of  the  forts. 
The  little  army  at  once  set  out  for  the  Indian  towns, 
some  two  hundred  miles  distant,  with  Isaac  Thomas 
as  guide,  James  Robertson  in  command  of  the 
Watauga  men,  and  John  Sevier  at  the  head  of  a 
select  body  of  scouts.  The  Indians  had  retired  be 
yond  the  French  Broad  upon  hearing  of  the  gather 
ing  of  troops  at  the  Great  Island,  and  a  body  of 
three  thousand  warriors  prepared  to  dispute  the 
passage  of  that  beautiful  river,  which  they  had 
boasted  should  never  be  crossed  by  a  hostile  white 
man.  Colonel  Christian,  under  the  guidance  of 
Isaac  Thomas,  crossed  the  river  near  what  is  now 
known  as  Buckingham's  Island,  and  to  his  surprise 
found  that  the  Indians  had  suddenly  determined  to 
retreat  to  the  fastnesses  of  their  mountains.  After 
punishing  their  unprovoked  attack  upon  the  settle 
ments  by  destroying  their  towns  and  laying  waste 
their  fields,  sparing  those  who  had  been  disposed  to 
peace,  Colonel  Christian  invited  a  conference.  This 
was  gladly  responded  to  by  a  number  of  chiefs,  who 
proposed  peace.  Their  request  was  granted,  and  a 
convention  was  entered  into,  but  not  to  take  effect 
till  a  treaty  should  be  made  by  representatives  from 
the  whole  tribe,  who  were  invited  to  meet  commis 
sioners  from  Virginia  in  May  following,  at  Heaton's 
Station.  Colonel  Christian  then  marched  his  troops 
back  to  this  point,  where  most  of  them  were  dis 
banded,  and  the  remainder  were  put  into  winter 
quarters  in  a  new  fort  erected  and  called  "Fort 


464  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Patrick  Henry,"  1  which  was  believed  to  be  within 
the  limits  of  Virginia,  the  dividing  line  not  having 
been  run  further  west  than  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 

On  January  13,  1777,  the  Governor  and  Council 
appointed  Colonel  William  Christian,  Colonel  Will 
iam  Preston,  and  Major  Evan  Shelby,  commission 
ers  to  treat  with  the  Cherokees.  On  May  23,  they 
reported  that  they  had  arranged  terms  of  a  treaty, 
and  that  they  had  brought  with  them  to  Williams- 
burg  several  of  the  Indian  chiefs  and  warriors.  The 
General  Assembly,  then  in  session,  directed  the 
Governor  and  Council  to  complete  the  treaty  thus 
arranged,  at  a  meeting  of  the  commissioners,  to  be 
held  at  the  fort  on  June  26,  1777. 

Dragging  Canoe  refused  to  attend  these  meetings, 
or  to  make  peace  with  the  whites,  but  the  further 
breaking  out  of  hostilities  was  for  some  time  pre 
vented  by  that  provision  of  the  treaty  which  per 
mitted  James  Robertson  to  dwell  among  the  Indians 
as  a  commissioner. 

By  this  treaty  a  new  line  was  run  between  the 
white  people  of  Virginia  and  the  Cherokees,  which 
was  to  the  west  of  that  run  by  Donelson.  It  com 
menced  at  the  Great  Island  in  the  Holston  River, 
"  thence  running  a  straight  line  to  a  high  point  on 
Cumberland  Mountain,  between  three  and  five  miles 
below  or  westward  of  the  Great  Gap,  which  leads 
to  the  settlement  of  Kentucky."  2  Here  it  stopped. 

By  this  new  line  the  settlements  in  Kentucky 

1  Ramsey,  in  his  History  of  Tennessee,  pp.  165-9,  gives  quite  a  full  ac 
count  of  this  expedition.     The  report  of  Colonel  Christian,  it  is  believed, 
was  taken  from  the  archives  of  the  State  during  the  occupation  of  Rich 
mond  by  the  Federal  troops  in  1865. 

2  See  material  parts  of  the  treaty  recited  in  the  case  of  Poterfield  vs. 
Clark,  2  Howard,  U.  S.  Reports,  III.,  etc. 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     465 

were  expected  to  be  protected  from  interruption,  as 
well  as  the  settlers  between  the  Holston  River  and 
Cumberland  Mountain. 

At  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  in  November, 
1768,  the  Six  Nations,  claiming  as  conquerors  of 
the  Shawanese,  ceded  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain 
all  the  country  on  the  southerly  side  of  the  river 
Ohio,  as  far  as  the  Cherokee,  or  Tennessee,  River. 
At  that  time  it  was  stated  that  this  country  was  not 
claimed  by  the  Cherokees,  whose  settlements  were 
to  the  south.1  Although  several  adventurous  per 
sons  visited  the  country  before  and  after  the  trea 
ty,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  Thomas 
Walker,  of  Virginia,  and  John  Finly  and  Daniel 
Boone,  of  North  Carolina,  yet  it  was  not  till  1774 
that  a  settlement  was  effected  west  of  the  Kentucky 
River.  In  that  year  James  Harrod,  from  the  coun 
try  on  the  Monongahela,  ascended  the  Kentucky 
River  and  built  the  first  log  cabin  in  Kentucky, 
upon  the  present  site  of  Harrodsburg.2  The  settle 
ments,  after  the  peace  between  the  Indians  and 
Lord  Dunmore,  increased  rapidly,  so  that  by  May, 
1775,  there  were  three  hundred  settlers.3 

Notwithstanding  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  the 
Cherokees  claimed  the  country  as  their  hunting 
ground,  and  on  March  17,  1775,  they  were  induced, 
by  Richard  Henderson,  of  North  Carolina,  and  the 
persons  associated  with  him,  to  formally  convey 
their  rights  to  them.  This  treaty  was  made  at 
Watauga,  and  the  territory  deeded  was  described  as 

"  All  the  tract  or  territory  of  lands  now  called  by 
the  name  of  Transsylvania,  lying  on  the  Ohio  River 

1  So  stated  by  the  Indian  agents,  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  iv.,  p.  332. 
*  Butler's  Kentucky,  p.  26.  3  Idem,  p.  30. 


466  PATRICK   HENRY. 

and  the  waters  thereof,  branches  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  bounded  as  follows :  Beginning  on  the  said 
Ohio  River,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cantuckey  Chenoee, 
or  what  by  the  English  is  called  Louisa  River  ;  from 
thence  running  up  the  said  river  and  most  north 
wardly  fork  of  the  same  to  the  head  spring  thereof  ; 
thence  a  southeast  course  to  the  top  ridge  of  Pow 
ell's  Mountain  ;  thence  westwardly  along  the  ridge 
of  said  mountain  unto  a  point  from  which  a  north 
west  course  will  hit  or  strike  the  head  spring  of  the 
most  southwardly  branch  of  Cumberland  River; 
thence  down  the  said  river,  including  all  its  waters, 
to  the  Ohio  River ;  thence  up  the  said  river  as  it 
meanders  to  the  beginning."  l 

This  territory  embraced  much  the  larger  part  of 
the  present  State  of  Kentucky,  and  a  part  of  the 
State  of  Tennessee,  and  this  magnificent  domain 
was  sold  by  the  Cherokees,  or  rather  their  doubtful 
rights  in  it,  for  a  parcel  of  goods  worth  only  a  few 
thousand  dollars.  It  was  said  that  Oconostota, 
when  the  treaty  had  been  signed,  said  to  Daniel 
Boone,  who  had  been  mainly  instrumental  in  effect 
ing  it,  "  Young  man,  we  have  sold  you  a  fine  terri 
tory  ;  but  I  fear  you  will  have  some  difficulty  in 
getting  it  settled."  The  remark  proved  to  be  a 
prophecy  of  the  treacherous  policy  of  the  Indians, 
which  caused  Kentucky  to  be  known  as  "  the  dark 
and  bloody  ground." 

With  this  claim  of  title  Henderson  <fe  Co.  es 
tablished  a  land  office,  and  commenced  to  dispose 
of  the  lands  to  settlers,  reserving  a  half  interest  in 
the  ores  and  also  an  annual  rental  for  the  land. 
During  the  year  1775,  a  body  consisting  of  eighteen 

1  Butler's  Kentucky,  p.  13. 


GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     467 

delegates,  styled  a  convention,  met  at  Boonesbor- 
ough,  acknowledged  the  proprietorship  of  Hen 
derson  &  Co.,  and  proceeded  to  establish  courts, 
and  otherwise  organize  a  territorial  government.1 
These  proceedings  caused  great  dissatisfaction 
among  some  of  the  settlers,  who  appealed  to  the 
Virginia  Convention  for  redress.  Henderson  & 
Co.  presented  a  counter-petition  to  that  body, 
and  the  action  taken  has  been  noted.  Many  depo 
sitions  were  taken  in  pursuance  of  the  resolution 
of  the  Convention,2  and  an  effort  was  made  to  con 
nect  Governor  Henry  with  some  of  the  land  com 
panies  which  had  made  purchases  of  the  Indians. 
This  led  to  the  taking  of  his  deposition,  which 
not  only  fully  exonerated  him  from  any  connec 
tion  with  these  purchases,  so  liable  to  suspicion 
from  their  enormous  extent  and  insignificant  con 
sideration,  but  showed  that  his  conduct  as  a  public 
man  was  actuated  by  the  highest  motives,  and 
that  he  was  not  willing  to  occupy  a  position  in 
which  his  private  interest  might  conflict  with  his 
public  duty. 

The  following  is  his  deposition  : 


WILLIAMSBURG,  June  4th  1777. 

"  The  Deposition  of  Patrick  Henry  esquire  ;  who 
being  first  duly  sworn,  deposeth  &  saith  : 

"  That  early  in  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hun 
dred  &  Seventy-four,  as  well  as  he  remembers,  the 
Honble  Wm  Byrd  Esqr  decd  having  said  that  the 
Cherokee  Indians  had  offered  to  give  him  a  tract  of 
land  some  years  before,  &  falling  into  conversation 

1  Butler's  Kentucky,  30. 

2  See  them  in  vol.  i.  of  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers. 


468  PATRICK   HENRY. 

on  that  Subject,  with  this  deponent,  He,  the  said 
Wm  Byrd,  together  with  the  Honorable  John  Page 
Esqr  decd,  &  this  deponent,  agreed  to  send  a  certain 
Mr.  Kennedy  to  the  Cherokee  Nation,  to  see  if  they 
were  willing  to  part  with  some  of  their  land,  on  the 
Waters  of  their  own  Rivers  in  Virginia,  to  Convey 
the  same  to  them  &  not  for  the  State — Col°  Chris 
tian  was  to  be  a  partner,  if  the  scheme  succeeded — 
Upon  Mr.  Kennedy's  return  he  Informed  this  De 
ponent  that  he  had  been  to  Col.  Byrd's,  &  had  let 
him  know  the  answer  of  Some  of  the  Indian  Chiefs  ; 
&  communicated  the  same  to  this  Deponent,  which 
was,  that  they  were  willing  to  treat  on  the  Subject 
— Not  long  after  this  and  before  any  treaty  was 
Resolved  on,  the  Troubles  with  great  Britain 
seemed  to  threaten  serious  consequences,  &>  this  De 
ponent  became  a  member  of  the  first  Virginia  Con 
vention,  &,  a  member  of  the  first  Continental  Con 
gress,  upon  which  he  determined  with  himself  to 
disclaim  all  Concern  and  Connection  with  Indian 
Purchases,  for  the  Reasons  following,  that  is  to  say 
— He  was  informed  shortly  after  his  arrival  at  Con 
gress,  of  many  Purchases  of  Indian  Lands,  shares 
in  most  or  all  of  which  were  offered  to  this  Depon 
ent,  &>  Constantly  refused  by  him,  because  of  the 
Enormity  in  the  Extent  to  which  the  Bounds  of 
those  purchases  were  carryed — Another  Reason  for 
this  Refusal  was,  deponent,  being  a  member  of  both 
Congress  &  Convention,  conceived  it  improper  for 
him  to  be  concerned  as  a  party  in  any  of  these 
partnerships ;  on  which  it  was  probable  he  might 
decide  as  a  Judge — The  Deponent  says  he  was  fur 
ther  fixed  in  his  Determination  not  to  be  concerned 
in  any  Indian  Purchase  whatever,  on  the  prospect 
of  the  present  War,  by  which  the  Sovereignty  & 
Right  of  Disposal  in  the  soil  of  America  would 
probably  be  claimed  by  American  States.  After 
conversing  with  the  Sd  Wm  Byrd,  &>  Communicating 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     469 

his  Sentiments  freely  on  the  Subject,  the  Deponent 
said  that  the  scheme  dropt :  nor  did  it  proceed  fur 
ther  than  is  above  related. 

"  The  Deponent  further  says,  that  Mr.  Henderson 
&  his  Partners  very  soon  after  their  supposed  Pur 
chase,  joined  in  a  Letter  to  this  Deponent :  in 
which  was  Contained  as  this  Deponent  thinks,  a 
Distant  though  plain  Hint,  that  he  the  Deponent 
might  be  a  partner  with  them. 

"  The  Deponent  also  says  he  rec'd  a  great  number 
of  Messages  from  Messrs.  Henderson  &>  Co.,  in 
viting  him  to  be  a  partner.  That  Mr.  Henderson 
in  his  own  Person,  &  Mr.  Allen  Jones  (a  Partner  in 
the  Purchase)  both  apply'd  to  the  Deponent  to 
join  them  in  their  scheme,  but  the  Deponent  uni 
formly  refused,  &  plainly  Declared  his  Strongest 
Disapprobation  of  their  whole  proceedings ;  giving 
as  a  Reason  that  the  People  of  Virginia  had  a  right 
to  the  back  Country,  derived  from  their  Charter  & 
the  Blood  &  Treasure  they  expended  on  that  ac 
count.  The  Deponent  says  that  he  is  not  now,  nor 
ever  has  been,  concerned  directly  or  indirectly  in 
any  Indian  Purchase  of  Lands,  &  that  he  knoweth 
nothing  of  Mr.  Henderson's  contract. 

"  The  Deponent  being  asked  whether  application 
to  the  Legislature  or  the  Crown,  was  made  for 
leave  to  Purchase  Lands  of  the  Cherokees  by  the 
said  Wm  Byrd,  or  any  other  Person  in  the  matter 
aforesaid.  He  answereth  that  no  such  application 
was  made  that  he  knows  of,  that  the  only  proposal 
to  the  Indians  was  to  know  if  they  would  treat  on 
the  Subject,  &>  further  saith  not/' 
"  Sworn  to  before 

"  Jo  :  PRENTIS 
"  R.  KELLO." 

In  the  spring  of  1775  there  appeared  among  the 
Kentucky  settlements,  a  man  of  fine  military  ap- 


470  PATRICK  HENRY. 

pearance,  of  great  intelligence,  and  most  attractive 
manners,  who  was  destined  to  exert  a  marked  influ 
ence  not  only  upon  the  history  of  Kentucky,  but 
upon  that  of  the  United  States.  This  was  George 
Rogers  Clark.  He  was  a  native  of  Albemarle 
County,  Va.,  where  he  was  a  neighbor  and  favorite 
of  Thomas  Jefferson.  As  a  boy  he  had  often  ridden 
to  Shadwell  Mills  upon  a  bag  of  corn ;  coming  to 
manhood  he  was  led  by  his  love  of  mathematics  to 
take  up  the  business  of  a  surveyor.  During  Dun- 
more's  Indian  War  he  commanded  a  company,  and 
was  engaged  in  the  only  active  operations  of  the  right 
wing  of  Duumore's  forces.  At  the  close  of  this  war 
he  was  offered  a  commission  in  the  English  service, 
but  the  political  troubles,  already  become  very  seri 
ous,  induced  him  to  decline  the  offer.  He  had  not 
been  long  in  Kentucky  before  he  was  placed  in  com 
mand  of  the  militia,  and  at  once  became  the  most 
prominent  man  in  the  settlements.  He  was  deeply 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  this  frontier  coun 
try  to  Virginia,  and  to  the  whole  Confederacy,  and 
determined  to  exert  himself  for  the  formation  of 
closer  relations  with  the  parent  State.  Accordingly 
he  called  a  general  meeting  of  the  settlers  at  Har- 
rodsburg  on  June  6,  1776,  with  a  view  of  appoint 
ing  deputies  to  treat  with  the  Virginia  Convention, 
in  order  to  secure  certain  advantages  as  a  condition 
of  their  declaring  themselves  citizens  of  Virginia. 
In  case  these  were  not  granted,  he  intended  to  lead 
in  the  establishment  of  an  independent  community. 
Being  detained  from  the  place  of  meeting  till  late 
in  the  afternoon,  he  found  the  people,  in  ignorance  of 
his  designs,  had  determined  to  send  him  and  Gabriel 
Jones  as  delegates  to  the  Convention,  with  a  peti- 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST   TERM.     471 

tion  praying  that  the  country  might  be  formed  into 
a  new  county. 

In  a  few  days  Clark  and  Jones  set  out  for  Will- 
iamsburg,  a  journey  of  some  five  hundred  miles. 
Their  way  led  through  a  wilderness,  in  which 
they  were  constantly  liable  to  be  attacked  by  the 
savages,  making  it  dangerous  to  kindle  fires  at 
night.  The  loss  of  one  of  their  horses,  and  the 
extreme  wetness  of  the  season,  brought  on  a  most 
painful  affliction,  called  by  the  hunters,  scald  feet. 
On  reaching  Botetourt  County  they  learned  that 
the  Convention  had  adjourned.  Jones  thereupon 
joined  the  forces  which  Colonel  Christian  was  rais 
ing  for  his  Cherokee  expedition,  while  Clark  deter 
mined  to  go  to  Williamsburg,  and  attempt  to  pro 
cure  powder  for  the  Kentuckians,  of  which  they 
stood  in  great  need.  Hearing  that  the  Governor 
was  sick  at  his  home,  Clark  visited  him  there. 
This,  which  was  probably  the  first  meeting  of  these 
remarkable  men,  was  fraught  with  the  gravest  con 
sequences  to  their  country.  Clark  produced  the 
evidences  of  his  appointment,  and  detailed  the  con 
dition  of  affairs  in  Kentucky,  and  the  need  of  pow 
der  for  its  defence.  Governor  Henry  fully  appreci 
ated  the  importance  of  affording  the  aid  which  was 
asked,  and  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Council  urging  that 
the  proper  order  be  made.  With  this  letter  Clark 
visited  Williamsburg  and  appeared  before  the  Coun 
cil.  He  asked  for  five  hundred  pounds  of  powder 
to  be  conveyed  to  Kentucky,  as  an  immediate  sup 
ply,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  British  officers 
north  of  the  Ohio  were  inciting  the  Indians  to  war. 

There  was  at  the  time  an  abundant  supply  in  the 
State,  but  the  Council  hesitated  about  furnishin^  it 

'  rt 


472  PATRICK  HENRY. 

to  Clark,  except  as  a  loan.  They  were  uncertain  as 
to  what  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  would 
be  in  reference  to  Kentucky  and  Henderson  &,  Co.'s 
claim,  and  they  would  only  consent  to  furnish  the 
powder,  if  Clark  would  become  answerable  for  it 
in  case  the  Assembly  disapproved  of  their  action. 
They  informed  Clark  that  "they  could  venture  no 
farther."  An  order  was  handed  him  upon  the 
keeper  of  the  magazine  on  this  condition.  This 
Clark  returned,  with  a  letter  stating,  "that  it  was  out 
of  his  power  to  convey  the  stores  at  his  own  expense 
such  a  distance  through  an  enemy's  country,  that  he 
was  sorry  to  find  that  the  Kentuckians  would  have 
to  seek  protection  elsewhere,  which  he  did  not 
doubt  of  their  getting,"  adding,  that  "  if  a  country 
was  not  worth  protecting,  it  was  not  worth  claim 
ing."  On  reading  this  letter  the  Council  realized 
that  they  had  committed  a  great  mistake,  and  they 
sent  for  Clark  and  granted  all  he  had  asked.  The 
order  on  the  Journal  is  in  these  words,  bearing  date 
August  23,  1776. 

"  Mr.  George  Rogers  Clark  having  represented  to 
this  Board  the  defenceless  state  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Kentucky,  and  having  on  their  behalf  requested 
that  a  quantity  of  ammunition  may  be  supplied 
them, 

"  Resolved,  That  five  hundred  pounds  of  gunpow 
der  be  forthwith  sent  to  Pittsburg  and  delivered  to 
the  commanding  officer  at  that  station,  to  be  safely 
kept  and  delivered  to  Mr.  Clark  for  the  use  of  the  in 
habitants  of  Kentucky.  And  it  is  ordered  that  five 
hundred  pounds  of  gunpowder  be  delivered  the  said 
Mr.  Clark  by  the  keeper  of  the  publick  magazine." l 

1  See  History  of  Indiana  by  Dillon,  vol.  i.,  for  Clark's  narration  of  these 
events. 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     473 

This  action  secured  Kentucky  to  Virginia.  Had 
Clark's  request  been  denied,  and  had  he  carried  out 
his  threat,  there  is  little  doubt  that  he  would  have 
applied  for  help  to  the  Spaniards,  who  held  the  west 
of  the  Mississippi.  They  were  seeking  to  establish 
themselves  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  as  their 
subsequent  conduct  demonstrated,  and  they  would, 
without  doubt,  have  seized  this  opportunity  of  ac 
quiring  Kentucky.  At  the  fall  session  Clark  and 
Jones  appeared  before  the  Legislature,  and  asked 
that  measures  be  taken  for  the  protection  of  Ken 
tucky.  At  their  instance,  and  against  the  protest  of 
Henderson  &  Co.,  the  territory  embraced  in  the 
present  State  of  Kentucky  was  set  off  from  the 
County  of  Fincastle.  It  was  constituted  the  County 
of  Kentucky,  and  a  regular  government  was  given 
the  people. 

The  claims  of  Henderson  &  Co.  were  never  recog 
nized  by  Virginia,  but  as  they  had  induced  many 
settlers  to  go  to  Kentucky,  who  aided  in  holding 
the  country  against  the  Indians,  and  thus  gave  pro 
tection  to  the  other  settlements  to  the  east,  the  Leg 
islature  deemed  it  right  to  reimburse  the  company 
for  their  trouble  and  expense,  and  accordingly 
granted  them  in  October,  1778,  two  hundred  thou 
sand  acres  of  land  at  the  mouth  of  Green  River. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.— 1776. 

Onerous  Duties  Devolved  on  the  Executive.— Needs  and  Perils  of 
the  State. — Correspondence  with  Washington. — Creation  of  a 
Virginia  Navy. — Its  Great  Services  and  Heroism. — Munitions 
of  War  Supplied. — Troops  Furnished  the  Continental  Army. — 
Arrangements  to  Obtain  Intelligence  from  the  Army. — Effect 
of  Declaration  of  Independence  in  England. — Campaign  in 
America. — Retreat  through  New  Jersey. — Reduced  Condition 
of  Washington's  Army. — Battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton. — 
Virginia  Assembly. — Its  Important  Work. — Religious  Liberty. 
— Alarm  at  Reverses  at  the  North. — Enlarges  Powers  of  Gover 
nor. — Alleged  Scheme  for  a  Dictatorship. 

IN  reading  the  Executive  Journal  for  Governor 
Henry's  term,  which  covers  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  large  folio  pages  for  the  first  year,  not  includ 
ing  the  letters  written,  one  is  struck  with  the  vast 
amount  of  mere  routine  work  devolved  upon  the 
Council.  To  the  ordinary  work  of  an  Executive, 
were  added  the  extraordinary  labors  consequent 
upon  a  state  of  war,  and  in  addition  the  duties  of 
an  Auditor's  office.  By  far  the  greater  part  of  the 
Journal  is  filled  with  entries  of  claims  against  the 
State  for  which  warrants  were  ordered  to  be  is 
sued.  Against  this  unnecessary  burden  Governor 
Henry  sent  the  following  protest  to  the  next  Assem 
bly,  but  it  was  not  changed  until  the  close  of  his 
administration. 

"  WILLIAMSBURG,  Dec.  6th  1776. 

"  HON.  SIR  :  As  by  the  act  of  Government  it  is 
directed  that  the  Governor  with  the  advice  of  the 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     475 

privy  Council  shall  exercise  the  executive  Powers 
of  Government,  a  Doubt  arises  whether  the  Gover 
nor  alone  may  issue  a  warrant  upon  the  Treasury 
for  the  Payment  of  any  money  on  accounts  certified 
by  the  Commissioners.  From  experience  it  is  found 
impracticable  to  attend  to  many  matters  of  conse 
quence  to  the  safety  of  the  State,  if  the  Council  are, 
not  only  to  advise  the  issuing  of  Warrants  upon 
such  Certificates,  but  also  to  keep  Records  of  the 
same.  We  think  it  proper  to  acquaint  the  General 
Assembly  with  these  our  Sentiments;  and  we  beg 
leave  earnestly  to  recommend  it  to  their  considera 
tion,  whether  it  would  not  be  to  the  advantage  of 
the  State  if  the  Commissioners  were  empowered 
finally  to  transact  this  Business,  or  some  other  reg 
ular  mode  adopted  for  the  future  settling  &  passing 
the  accounts  against  this  State. 

"  By  advice  of  Council 

"P.  HENRY  JR." 

"  To  the  HON.  EDMUND  PENDLETON, 

*'  Speaker  of  the  Ho.  of  Del" 

One  of  the  most  serious  questions  with  which 
Governor  Henry  and  his  Council  were  confronted, 
was  the  deficiency  in  the  supply  of  salt  in  the  State. 
Few  things  were  calculated  to  excite  more  alarm, 
or  greater  dissatisfaction  among  the  people.  The 
order  of  the  Convention  for  the  establishment  of  salt 
works  along  the  coast,  could  not  be  carried  out  in 
time  to  meet  the  demand,  and  the  occasional  landing 
of  a  cargo  was  not  sufficient  for  the  purpose. 

There  was  also  a  great  lack  of  such  medicines  as 
were  formerly  imported.  So  soon  as  information 
was  received  of  the  departure  of  the  British  Fleet 
from  the  Bay,  the  Council,  by  an  order  dated  Sep 
tember  13,  1776,  directed  six  sloops,  bearing  the 
names  of  Congress,  Scorpion,  Liberty,  Defiance,  Hor- 


476  PATRICK   HENRY. 

net,  and  Revenge,  to  carry  out  cargoes  of  tobacco 
and  flour  to  the  West  Indies,  and  to  bring  back  salt, 
clothes,  and  medicines.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
a  very  important,  but  hazardous,  trade,  which  was 
conducted  by  the  Virginia  Navy. 

The  dangers  which  surrounded  Virginia  are 
graphically  described  by  John  Page,  President  of 
the  Council  in  the  absence  of  Governor  Henry,  in  a 
letter  to  John  Hancock,  President  of  Congress, 
August  3,  1776.1  Congress  had  ordered  two  of 
the  battalions  raised  for  Virginia  service  to  join 
the  flying  camp  of  Brigadier-General  Mercer  in 
New  Jersey.  These  were  sent,  and  Mr.  Page 
wrote : 

u  From  the  dispersed  situation  of  our  troops,  the 
number  of  navigable  rivers,  exposing  our  country  to 
the  ravages  of  the  enemy's  fleet,  the  great  demand 
of  men  and  arms  on  our  frontiers,  on  account  of  the 
Indian  war,  and  from  the  present  state  of  General 
Clinton's  army  near  Charlestown,  which  we  con 
ceive  might  be  employed  to  greater  advantage  here, 
we  have  reason  to  apprehend  an  invasion,  and  have 
therefore  ordered  a  number  of  minute-men  and  mi 
litia  into  duty,  to  supply  the  want  of  our  two  regi 
ments  ordered  to  the  Jerseys." 

This  order  of  the  Council,  calling  additional 
troops  into  the  field,  was  made  while  Governor 
Henry  was  sick  and  absent.  When  he  returned  to 
his  post,  he  wrote  to  General  Washington,  Septem 
ber  20,  asking  his  advice  in  the  embarrassing  situa 
tion  of  affairs  in  which  he  found  himself,  and  pro- 

1  American  Archives,  5th  Series,  i.,  736. 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     477 

posing  a  continued  correspondence.      Washington 
replied  October  5  : 

"  I  congratulate  you,  sir,  most  cordially,  upon  your 
appointment  to  the  government,  and,  with  no  less  sin 
cerity,  on  your  late  recovery.  Your  correspondence 
will  confer  honor  and  satisfaction  ;  and  whenever  it 
is  in  my  power,  I  shall  write  to  you  with  pleasure." 

He  then  gave  an  account  of  his  own  situation, 
attributed  his  reverses  to  the  evils  of  short  enlist 
ments,  warned  Governor  Henry  against  relying  on 
these,  and  against  inefficient  officers,  and  advised 
the  use  of  row  galleys  for  defence  against  the  ene 
my's  ships  and  tenders  which  might  go  up  the  rivers.1 
Williamsburg,  which  is  within  a  few  miles  of 
both  the  James  and  York  Rivers,  was  peculiarly 
liable  to  attack  from  the  water,  and  the  Governor 
ordered  some  of  the  new  levies  to  be  posted  for  the 
protection  of  the  capital.  This  caused  a  sarcastic 
letter  to  be  written  by  the  aged  aristocrat,  Landon 
Carter,  to  Washington,  which  plainly  showed  his 
dislike  to  Governor  Henry.2 

In  order  to  give  more  efficiency  to  their  navy,  the 
Convention  had  created  a  Navy  Board,  consisting  of 
Thomas  Whiting,  John  Hutchings,  Champion 
Travis,  Thomas  Newton,  Jr.,  and  George  Webb. 
They  were  charged  with  the  creation  and  manage 
ment  of  a  navy.  The  Executive  Journal  shows  that 
they  were  in  communication  with,  and  under  the 
control  of,  the  Governor.  When  the  great  disad 
vantages  under  which  they  labored  are  considered, 
the  work  they  accomplished  is  matter  of  astonish- 

1  Writings  of  Washington,  iv.,  135.     Post,  iii.,  12. 

2  American  Archives,  5th  Series,  ii.,  1305-6. 


478  PATRICK   HENRY. 

ment.  Dockyards  were  established  at  Gosport,  Suf 
folk,  Fredericksburg,  New  Castle  on  tlie  Pamunky 
River,  and  at  a  point  on  the  Chickahominy  about 
twelve  miles  from  its  mouth.  This  last  was  the 
chief  place  of  naval  construction,  till  its  destruction 
by  Arnold  in  1781.  Depots  of  naval  stores,  and 
rope  walks  for  the  manufacture  of  cordage,  were 
also  established,  the  chief  of  these  being  at  War 
wick,  four  miles  below  Richmond.1  The  Board 
appointed  two  superintendents,  Captain  James 
Maxwell  and  Captain  Christopher  Calvert,  the 
latter  having  immediate  charge  of  the  construction 
department.  Military  operations  were  directed  by 
a  commodore.  Three  of  these  were  successively  ap 
pointed,  J.  Boucher,  Walter  Brooke,  and  James 
Barron.  The  first  two  served  but  short  periods  and 
resigned,  but  the  last  named  served  till  the  end  of 
the  war,  with  an  energy,  zeal,  and  courage  unsur 
passed  in  naval  annals.  About  40  captains,  59 
lieutenants,  and  600  seamen  served  in  the  Virginia 
navy  during  the  war,  and  among  the  latter  were 
many  negroes,  who  rendered  faithful  and  efficient 
service.  It  is  to  the  lasting  honor  of  this  arm  of 
the  service  that  only  three  cases  of  desertion  are 
reported  during  the  entire  war.  The  corps  of 
marines  numbered  about  three  hundred,  including 
officers,  but  the  militia  were  frequently  called  to 
serve  on  the  decks  of  the  navy. 

The  Virginia  navy  thus  called  into  existence,  al 
most  entirely  during  Governor  Henry's  terms,  con 
sisted  of  17  ships,  15  brigs,  19  schooners,  15  galleys, 
2  armed  pilot  boats,  and  2  barges.  Some  of  these 

1  This  place  was  very  near  Fort  Darling,  known  as  Drury's  Bluff,  and 
rendered  famous  in  the  late  war. 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     479 

vessels  were  captured  from  the  enemy,  and  some 
bought,  but  the  Virginians  showed  surprising  skill 
in  constructing  swift  and  seaworthy  craft.  Some 
of  the  vessels  were  of  most  respectable  size  and 
armament.  The  largest  ship  carried  32  guns,  the 
largest  brig  14  guns,  the  largest  galleys  mounted 
two  18-pounder  guns,  with  swivels  in  addition,  and 
the  barges  for  the  conveyance  of  troops  were  large 
enough  to  carry  one  company  of  68  men  with  their 
outfit,  besides  those  working  the  oars. 

The  services  of  these  vessels  were  of  the  greatest 
importance.  They  not  only  effectually  prevented 
the  incursions  of  bands  of  plundering  Tories  along 
the  Bay,  but  were  most  effectual  in  carrying  out  to 
bacco  and  other  produce,  and  exchanging  their 
cargoes  in  the  West  Indies  for  arms  and  military 
stores,  and  in  making  prizes  of  British  merchant 
men. 

Smollet,  in  his  continuation  of  Hume's  History  of 
England,  bears  testimony  to  the  value  of  these  ser 
vices  in  their  injury  to  British  commerce,  and  states, 
"  that  by  the  export  of  tobacco  from  the  Chesapeake 
the  credit  of  the  colonies  was  chiefly,  if  not  wholly, 
supported,"  and  "  by  the  inland  navigation  of  that 
Bay  large  quantities  of  provisions  were  conveyed  to 
the  middle  colonies  for  the  subsistence  of  the  Amer 
ican  army." 

This  gallant  little  navy  not  only  captured  un 
armed  merchantmen,  but  fought  with  great  bravery 
the  British  armed  vessels.  A  detailed  statement  of 
these  conflicts  would  be  of  great  interest,  but  only 
one  adventure  will  be  given,  which  may  well  chal 
lenge  comparison  with  the  highest  heroism  recorded 
in  naval  history.  The  account  will  be  given  in  the 


480  PATRICK  HENRY. 

fitting  words  of  the  accomplished  historian  of  the 
Virginia  Navy.1     Says  the  writer : 

"  The  crowding  act  of  heroism,  during  the  career 
of  these  patriot  cruisers,  was  that  which  has  immor 
talized  the  name  of  Cap1  John  Cowper.  The  Brig 
Dolphin  we  have  seen  had  been  on  service  in  the 
Chesapeake  ;  and  had  been  sent  into  Nansemond 
River  to  be  overhauled  and  refitted.  Her  officers 
had  been  changed  ;  and  she  was  now  to  be  com 
manded  by  Cap*  Cowper,  with  his  Lieutenants  Phil. 
Chamberlayne  and  James  Cunningham,  midshipman 
Frank  Lewis,  and  surgeon  Harris.  Having  gotten 
his  vessel  ready  for  sea,  Cap*  Cowper  dropped 
down  to  the  mouth  of  Nansemond  River,  and  as 
soon  as  opportunity  of  wind  and  tide  offered,  put 
to  sea  in  search  of  the  enemy.  Before  weighing 
anchor,  and  we  must  suppose  after  due  consultation 
with  his  officers  and  crew,  he  deliberately  nailed  his 
flag  to  the  masthead,  and  declared  he  would  never 
strike  it  to  the  foe.  The  annals  of  naval  warfare  do 
not  afford  a  more  brilliant  example  of  patriotic  de 
votion  than  that  now  to  be  recorded.  The  world  is 
dazzled  by  displays  of  heroism  on  large  fields. 
Hence  the  glories  of  St.  Vincent,  of  Aboukir,  and 
of  Trafalgar.  But  Lord  Nelson  himself,  when  he 
sank  into  the  arms  of  Fame  on  the  deck  of  the  Vic 
tory,  was  no  more  a  hero  than  was  he  who  now 
trod  the  deck  of  this  unpretending  Virginia  cruiser. 
Cap1  Cowper  now  shaped  the  course  of  his  brig  di 
rectly  across  Hampton  Roads  out  into  the  Chesa 
peake.  It  was  late  in  the  day.  The  people  of  the 
neighborhood,  who  were  well  aware  of  his  desperate 
temper,  watched  with  interest  from  along  the  shore 

1  Dr.  William  P.  Palmer,  of  Richmond,  editor  of  the  first  volumes  of 
the  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  who  has  kindly  shown  me  his  History  of 
the  Virginia  Navy  in  MS  ,  from  which  I  have  obtained  the  foregoing- 
facts. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     481 

the  gallant  little  vessel  on  her  perilous  way.  They 
saw  her  pass  the  sandy  beach  where  stood  old  Fort 
George,  and  where  now  frown  the  batteries  of  For 
tress  Munroe.  They  continued  to  gaze  upon  her 
diminishing  outlines  until  she  had  gotten  fairly 
beyond  the  Capes.  Here  she  was  not  lost  to  their 
view ;  for  almost  at  the  moment  she  was  about  to 
fade  away  in  the  horizon,  two  other  sails  were  ob 
served  in  the  offing.  The  friends  of  all  on  board 
the  Dolphin,  were  now  anxious  as  to  the  character 
of  the  strangers — were  they  merchantmen,  or  were 
they  men-of-war  ?  Cowper  had  always  said  he 
would  never  wait  to  be  attacked,  but  would  assume 
the  offensive,  no  matter  what  the  odds  against  him. 
The  Dolphin  was  now  seen  bearing  toward  the  two 
vessels,  who  themselves  afc  once  shaped  their  course 
to  meet  her.  It  was  evident  therefore  that  they 
were  armed  tenders  of  the  enemy's  fleet  probably 
not  very  far  distant.  They  must  have  been  aston 
ished  at  the  temerity  of  an  adversar}^  who  single- 
handed  and  in  sight  of  a  place  of  refuge,  was  thus 
boldly  inviting  them  to  so  unequal  a  contest.  They 
may  have  taken  her  for  a  Tory  ally,  or  friend  in  dis 
guise.  They  were  not  long  left  in  doubt.  The 
Dolphin  opened  fire  as  soon  as  they  were  in  range, 
and  the  action  began.  It  is  stated  by  those  who 
looked  on  from  a  distance,  that  the  fight  lasted  un 
til  long  after  the  sun  had  set.  The  flashes  of  the 
guns  continued  to  be  seen  through  the  darkness,  and 
their  distant  mutterings  to  be  heard  after  nightfall. 
At  last  an  ominous  silence  brooded  over  the  sea. 
The  lights  of  two  vessels  were  seen  to  disappear  to 
the  eastward,  but  no  sign  was  left  of  the  third. 
The  gallant  Dolphin  and  her  devoted  crew  have 
never  been  heard  of  since  that  day  !  Had  they 
been  made  prisoners,  some  one  of  them  might  have 
returned  with  tidings  of  her  fate.  It  cannot  there 
fore  be  doubted  that  the  desperate  resolve  of  her 

31 


482  PATRICK   HENRY. 

commander  was  carried  out,  and  that  he  and  his 
crew  sacrificed  themselves  and  their  vessel  to  an  over- 
zealous  devotion  to  their  country's  cause.  No  fit 
ting  memorial  can  ever  mark  the  spot  where  per 
ished  this  heroic  band ;  but  the  surging  billow 
must  forever  be  their  monument ;  their  requiem, 
what  the  *  wild  waves '  are  ever  saying." 

It  was  the  fate  of  the  gallant  Virginia  navy  to  be 
almost  entirely  destroyed  in  James  River  by  the 
traitor  Arnold,  in  1781.  Besides  those  vessels  which 
were  in  distant  waters,  only  the  Liberty  survived 
the  invasion.  Those  not  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  English  were  destroyed  by  their  own  com 
manders  to  avoid  capture. 

The  exertions  put  forth  by  Governor  Henry  to 
ensure  the  manufacture  and  importation  of  gun 
powder  met  with  such  success,  that  on  August  20, 
the  Council  found  it  necessary  to  order  the  erection 
of  another  magazine  to  accommodate  the  large  supply 
on  hand.  For  lead  the  State  was  dependent  on  the 
mines  on  the  Kanawha,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Crip 
ple  Creek,  in  that  portion  of  the  old  county  of  Fin- 
castle  which  had  been  set  off  and  named  Montgom 
ery,  in  honor  of  the  hero  who,  after  conquering  a 
large  portion  of  Canada,  had  just  fallen  at  Quebec. 
From  the  mines  the  lead  was  wagoned  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty  miles,  to  Lynch's l  Ferry  on  James 
River.  A  gun  factory  was  established  at  Fredericks- 
burg,  but  it  failed  to  supply  the  demand  for  small 
arms,  and  the  supplies  obtained  from  the  West  Indies 
proved  insufficient  for  arming  the  men  called  into 
the  field. 

There  was  no  difficulty  in  raising  Virginia's  quota 

1  Now  Lynchburg. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     483 

of  men  for  the  Continental  army  during  the  year 
1776,  and  when  Governor  John  Wood,  of  Georgia, 
applied  for  permission  to  recruit  for  soldiers  in  the 
State,  the  Council,  on  August  20,  granted  his  re 
quest,  only  providing  that  the  Georgians  should  not 
enlist  any  regular  soldiers,  marines,  or  minute-men. 

The  gallantry  of  the  Virginians  in  the  engage 
ments  of  the  Continental  army  was  conspicuous, 
and  soon  won  the  admiration  of  the  army. 

In  order  that  he  might  have  prompt  and  reliable 
information  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  camp  and 
in  the  halls  of  Congress,  Governor  Henry  kept  up  a 
regular  correspondence  with  General  Washington 
and  Richard  Henry  Lee.  The  letters  of  this  cor 
respondence  which  have  been  preserved,  show  the 
most  intimate  relations  between  the  writers,  and 
give  a  vivid  representation  of  the  events  of  the 
times. 

Governor  Henry  soon  found,  however,  that  the 
engagements  of  these  correspondents  were  so  en 
grossing,  that  they  could  not  keep  him  advised  of 
current  events  with  that  punctuality  which  he 
deemed  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  State.  Ac 
cordingly  on  January  16,  1777,  the  Council,1  in  a 
minute  reciting  the  defenceless  condition  of  the 
State,  and  the  necessity  of  speedy  and  authentic  ac 
counts  of  the  movements  of  the  British  fleet  and 
army,  in  order  that  the  most  effectual  provision 
might  be  made  for  its  defence,  appointed  John 
Walker,  Esq.,  of  Albemarle  County,  agent  of  corre 
spondence,  to  reside  at,  or  convenient  to,  General 
Washington's  headquarters.  Governor  Henry  in 
formed  General  Washington  of  this  action,  and  re- 

1  Journal,  p.  308. 


484  PATRICK  HENRY. 

ceived  from  him  the  following  letter  on  the  sub 
ject. 

"  MORRISTOWN,  24  February  1777. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  Mr.  Walker  has,  I  doubt  not,  in 
formed  you  of  the  situation  in  which  I  have  placed 
him,  in  order  that  he  may  obtain  the  best  informa 
tion,  and,  at  the  same  time,  have  his  real  design  hid 
from  the  world ;  thereby  avoiding  the  evils,  which 
might  otherwise  result  from  such  appointments,  if 
adopted  by  other  States.  It  will  naturally  occur  to 
you,  Sir,  that  there  are  some  secrets,  on  the  keeping 
of  which  depends  often  times  the  salvation  of  an 
army ;  secrets  which  cannot,  or  at  least  ought  not, 
to  be  intrusted  to  paper;  nay,  which  none  but  the 
Commander-in-chief,  at  the  time,  should  be  ac 
quainted  with. 

"  If  Mr.  Walker's  commission,  therefore,  from  the 
Commonwealth  of  Virginia  should  -be  known,  it 
would,  I  am  persuaded,  be  followed  by  others  of 
the  like  nature  from  other  states,  which  would  be 
no  better  than  so  many  marplots.  To  avoid  the 
precedent,  then,  and  from  your  character  of  Mr. 
Walker,  and  the  high  opinion  I  myself  intertain  of 
his  abilities,  honor  and  prudence,  I  have  taken  him 
into  my  family  as  an  extra  aid- de-camp  and  shall  be 
happy  if,  in  this  character,  he  can  answer  your  ex 
pectations.  I  sincerely  thank  you,  Sir,  for  your  kind 
congratulations  on  the  late  success  of  the  Continen 
tal  arms  (would  to  God  it  may  continue),  and  for 
your  polite  mention  of  me.  Let  me  earnestly  en 
treat,  that  the  troops  raised  in  Virginia  for  this 
army  be  forwarded  on  by  companies,  or  otherwise, 
without  delay,  and  as  well  equipped  as  possible  for 
the  field,  or  we  shall  be  in  no  condition  to  open  the 
campaign.  With  every  sentiment  of  respect  and 
regard  "  I  am,  dear  Sir,  <fec. 

"  GEO.  WASHINGTON. 

11  To  his  Excellency  GovR  PATRICK  HENRY." 


GOVERNOR  OF   VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     485 

Mr.  Walker  did  not  continue  very  long  on  this 
duty,  and  during  his  next  term  the  Governor  ap 
pointed  William  Pierce  to  the  same  position.1 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  greatly  affected 
parties  in  England.  Many  who  had  stoutly  de 
fended  the  political  rights  of  the  Colonies  aban 
doned  their  cause  when  a  separate  existence  was 
demanded.2  Englishmen  were  nearly  unanimous 
against  a  disruption  of  the  empire,  and  the  minority 
opposed  to  Government  dwindled  to  almost  nothing. 
Still  some  of  the  best  thinkers  did  not  hesitate  to 
declare  the  task  of  reducing  America  hopeless. 
Among  these  was  David  Hume,  who  upon  his 
deathbed  advised  his  country  to  give  up  the  war 
with  America,  "  in  which  defeat  would  destroy  its 
credit,  and  success  its  liberties." 

Upon  the  continent  the  temptation  to  injure  their 
old  enemy  could  not  be  resisted,  and  both  France 
and  Spain,  while  not  taking  an  open  part  in  favor 
of  the  United  States,  secretly  gave  them  encourage 
ment,  permitting  arms  and  munitions  of  WSLY  to  be 
furnished  them,  and  American  ships  to  use  their 
harbors.  Vergennes,  the  ablest  member  of  the  cab 
inet  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  earnestly  advised  an  open 
breach  with  England,  but  the  sluggish  young  king 
dreaded  the  exertions  of  war,  and  was  content  to 
allow  his  ministers  secretly  to  aid  the  Americans. 

The  fortunes  of  the  American  arms  had  been 
checkered.  The  expedition  into  Canada  com 
menced  with  brilliant  success,  but  after  the  fall  of 

1  Executive  Journal,  79,  121. 

2  On  the  opening  of  Parliament  in  October,  the  Duke  of  Richmond  in 
the  Lords,  and  John  Wilkes  in  the  Commons,  led  the  opposition  in  vigor 
ous  attacks  upon  the  Ministry,  and  in  defence  of  the  American  Colonies 
in.  their  action  ;  but  they  were  in  a  small  minority. 


486  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Montgomery  before  Quebec  it  came  to  a  disastrous 
termination.  The  British  army,  after  its  forced 
evacuation  of  Boston,  transferred  the  seat  of  war  to 
New  York  and  the  Southern  Colonies.  Washington 
had  hastened  to  occupy  New  York,  and  Charles 
Lee  was  despatched  to  meet  the  invasion  of  the 
South.  The  attack  of  Clinton  on  Charleston  was 
repulsed  and  the  British  returned  to  New  York. 
By  the  middle  of  August  the  forces  under  General 
Howe  reached  twenty-four  thousand,  besides  a 
strong  fleet,  while  the  effective  forces  under  Wash 
ington  were  only  about  eleven  thousand,  many  of 
whom  were  rnilitia  suddenly  called  into  service.  A 
well-planned  attack  by  the  British  on  the  Ameri 
can  forces  posted  at  Brooklyn,  on  August  27,  re 
sulted  in  a  defeat  of  the  Americans  after  a  stub 
born  fight,  in  which  the  troops  led  by  Lord  Sterling 
were  distinguished,  and  necessitated  the  evacuation 
of  New  York. 

Then  followed  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  which 
was  soon  followed  by  the  loss  of  Fort  Washington 
with  a  large  garrison,  and  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Lee, 
thus  leaving  the  lower  Hudson  open  to  the  enemy's 
fleet.  Washington  being  in  doubt  as  to  the  designs 
of  the  British  commander,  crossed  over  to  the  Jersey 
side  of  the  river,  leaving  General  Charles  Lee,  who 
had  returned  from  the  South,  in  command  of  about 
half  of  the  army,  to  check  any  movement  to  the  east 
ward.  General  Howe  having  massed  a  greatly  su 
perior  force  in  New  Jersey,  and  sent  a  large  fleet 
to  the  southward,  it  became  apparent  that  he  was 
aiming  at  Philadelphia.  Washington  at  once  or 
dered  Lee  to  cross  the  river  and  join  him,  but  this 
eccentric  and  wayward  officer  disobeyed  the  order, 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     487 

and  purposely  left  his  commander  to  his  fate.  Then 
commenced  a  perilous  retreat  across  the  State  of 
New  Jersey,  lasting  three  weeks  and  measuring 
near  one  hundred  miles,  including  the  crossing  of 
four  rivers,  in  which  Washington,  with  consummate 
skill,  evaded  a  vastly  superior  force  commanded  by 
Cornwallis,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  British  gener 
als,  and  brought  off  his  ammunition  and  field  pieces, 
with  the  greater  part  of  his  stores.  When  at  last, 
on  December  8,  he  had  placed  the  Delaware  be 
tween  himself  and  the  enemy,  he  found  his  army 
reduced,  by  sickness  and  expired  enlistments,  to  but 
little  over  three  thousand  men,  of  whom  fifteen 
hundred  were  Virginians.  These  were  soon  re 
inforced  by  two  thousand  Pennsylvania  militia. 

Lee  after  much  delay  crossed  the  Hudson,  but  on 
December  12,  while  absent  from  his  command,  he 
was  captured  and  carried  a  prisoner  to  New  York. 

A  letter  written  from  Philadelphia  December  3,  by 
Richard  Henry  Lee  to  Governor  Henry,  an  extract  of 
which  appeared  in  the  Virginia  Gazette  of  the  13th, 
gave  him  the  alarming  intelligence  of  this  forced  re 
treat  ;  it  commenced  :  "  The  present  moment  is  criti 
cal  in  the  American  war.  The  enemy  have  taken 
vigorous  advantage  of  the  space  between  the  old 
and  the  new  enlistments,  and  have  rushed  like  a  tor 
rent  through  the  Jersies,  our  little  army  of  no  more 
than  5,000  men,  under  the  command  of  Genl. 
Washington,  being  compelled  to  retreat  rapidly  be 
fore  them.  The  object  is  this  city,  and  they  were 
on  Sunday  last  at  Brunswick,  about  sixty  miles  off 
in  the  Jersies."  It  was  indeed  a  gloomy  period.1 

1  See  letter  of  Washington  to  J.  A.  Washington,  December  18,  1776, 
Writings,  of  Washington  iv.,  229. 


488  PATRICK  HENRY. 

The  enemy  were  in  possession  of  Rhode  Island, 
Long  Island,  the  city  of  New  York,  and  nearly  all 
of  New  Jersey,  and  were  on  the  eve  of  entering 
Pennsylvania  and  threatening  Philadelphia.  On 
December  12,  Congress,  fearing  an  attack  on  the 
city,  adjourned  to  meet  in  Baltimore  on  the  20th. 
Lord  Howe  accompanied  his  brother,  with  special 
authority  from  the  Ministry  to  offer  pardon  to  all 
who  would  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  His  pro 
clamation  induced  many  to  accept  the  proffered 
terms,  and  indeed  a  general  despondency  threaten 
ed  to  overspread  the  people  and  the  army.  Some 
of  the  officers  under  Washington  commenced  to 
criticise  very  freely  his  generalship,  and  to  intrigue 
for  his  disgrace.  So  certain  were  the  British  that 
the  war  was  virtually  ended,  that  Cornwallis  pre 
pared  to  return  to  England,  and  actually  sent  his 
baggage  on  shipboard. 

The  difficulties  which  now  beset  Washington 
would  have  overwhelmed  an  ordinary  man,  but  they 
only  served  to  stimulate  his  powers,  and  to  bring 
out  in  bolder  relief  the  greatness  of  his  character. 
He  had  early  urged  upon  Congress  the  necessity  of 
having  a  fresh  army  in  the  field  enlisted  for  the  war, 
before  the  expiration  of  the  terms  of  his  men,  who 
were  only  enlisted  for  one  year.  But  Congress  did 
not  heed  his  repeated  advice  till  September  16, 1776, 
when  they  ordered  that  eighty-three  battalions 
should  be  enlisted  for  the  war,  of  which  three  were 
assigned  to  New  Hampshire,  fifteen  to  Massachu 
setts,  two  to  Ehode  Island,  three  to  Connecticut, 
four  to  New  York,  four  to  New  Jersey,  twelve  to 
Pennsylvania,  one  to  Delaware,  eight  to  Maryland, 
fifteen  to  Virginia,  nine  to  North  Carolina,  six  to 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     489 

South  Carolina,  and  one  to  Georgia.  On  Novem 
ber  12,  1776,  this  order  was  modified  so  as  to  per 
mit  the  enlistments  to  be  for  three  years.  They 
had  already  realized  the  truth  of  Washington's 
remark  in  his  letter  of  October  4,  that  there  is  a 
material  difference  between  voting  battalions  and 
raising  men.  The  season  was  late,  and  such  diffi 
culty  was  experienced  in  getting  ready  the  new 
levies,  that  the  most  convenient  militia  had  to  be 
called  out,  and  so  the  American  commander  was 
forced  to  meet  the  well-appointed  and  experienced 
army  of  General  Howe,  with  men  whose  terms  were 
expiring,  or  who  were  freshly  drafted.  The  appar 
ent  hopelessness  of  his  condition  is  seen  in  his  letter 
to  the  Pennsylvania  Council  of  Safety  of  December 
22,  1776,  in  which  he  urges  the  necessity  of  rein 
forcements  from  the  militia,  and  says :  "  In  less 
than  ten  days  from  this  time,  my  army  will  be 
reduced  to  a  few  Virginia,  and  one  Maryland  regi 
ment,  Colonel  Hand's,  and  the  regiments  lately 
under  Colonel  Miles,  all  very  thin."  But  nothing 
shook  the  firmness  of  his  mind,  and  with  perfect 
self-possession,  he  went  forward  in  the  performance 
of  his  duty,  trusting  the  issue  to  the  Divine  Provi 
dence  in  whose  keeping  were  the  destinies  of 
America. 

Neither  Virginia  nor  her  Governor  lost  faith  in 
Washington  in  this  his  hour  of  sorest  trial. 
Governor  Henry  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to 
push  forward  the  troops  the  State  was  required  to 
furnish,  and  in  every  way  to  uphold  the  man  in 
whom  was  bound  up,  as  he  verily  believed,  the  fate 
of  America.1 

1  American  Archives,  5th  Series,  vol.  iii.,  p.  1361. 


490  PATRICK  HENRY. 

The  Legislature  on  December  21,  urged  upon 
Congress  "  to  invest  the  commander-in- chief  of  the 
American  forces  with  more  ample  and  extensive 
powers  for  conducting  the  operations  of  the  war." 
And,  fortunately  for  the  country,  Congress  on 
December  27,  exhibited  their  continued  confidence 
in  him,  by  greatly  enlarging  his  powers. 

But  before  this  was  done,  Washington  had  struck 
a  blow  which  completely  changed  the  situation  of 
affairs  and  demonstrated  his  genius  for  war.  On 
the  night  of  December  25,  he  crossed  the  Dela 
ware,  filled  with  floating  ice,  and  in  the  midst  of  a 
blinding  snow-storm  he  marched  nine  miles,  attack 
ing  and  taking  by  surprise  a  large  body  of  Hessians 
at  Trenton,  of  whom  he  made  more  than  one  thou 
sand  prisoners.  Cornwallis,  astonished  at  this  in 
telligence,  hastily  left  the  ship  in  which  he  was 
about  to  embark,  and  massing  the  British  army  in 
New  Jersey,  determined  to  force  Washington  to 
engage  in  a  battle  on  unequal  terms  before  he  could 
recross  the  Delaware.  But  Washington  completely 
out-generalled  him,  and  withdrawing  at  night  from 
his  front,  fell  upon  his  rear  at  Princeton,  delivering 
a  heavy  blow.  Washington  then  retired  to  Morris- 
town,  where  the  British  commander  dared  not  attack 
him. 

On  October  7,  1776,  the  first  Assembly  under  the 
new  constitution  met  at  Williamsburg,  consisting  of 
a  Senate  elected  by  the  people,  and  the  members  of 
the  late  Convention  acting  as  a  House  of  Delegates. 

The  Assembly  found  Governor  Henry  at  his  post, 
but  not  fully  restored  to  heal  th.  He  was  able,  how 
ever,  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Council  till  Oc 
tober  26,  when  becoming  so  unwell  that  he  could 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     491 

no  longer  perform  his  duties,  lie  sent  the  Assembly 
a  message,  which  is  noted  on  the  House  Journal  of 
October  30,  with  the  action  thereupon,  as  follows  : 

"The  speaker  laid  before  the  House  a  letter 
from  the  Governour,  informing  him  that  the  low 
state  of  his  health  rendered  him  unable  to  attend  to 
the  duties  of  his  office,  and  that  his  physicians  had 
recommended  to  him  to  retire  therefrom  into  the 
country  till  he  should  recover  his  strength ;  which 
being  read, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Speaker  be  desired  to  inform 
the  Governour  that  this  House,  sincerely  concerned 
that  his  indisposition  should  deprive  the  common 
wealth  of  the  benefit  of  his  services,  approve  of  his 
proposition  to  retire  from  the  duties  of  his  office 
until  his  better  health  shall  enable  him  to  return  to 
them." 

On  the  same  day  the  Senate  agreed  to  this  resolu 
tion,  and  the  Journal  of  the  Council  does  not  show 
the  presence  of  the  Governor  again  till  November 
18,  following.  A  letter  from  Edmund  Randolph  to 
General  Washington,  dated  October  11,  1776,  at 
Williamsburg,1  mentions  that  many  of  the  soldiers 
from  the  upper  counties  were  made  sick  by  their 
stay  at  Williamsburg,  and  it  was  doubtless  the  cli 
mate  of  lower  Virginia  which  was  so  seriously  af 
fecting  the  Governor. 

The  act  of  the  Governor  shows  the  great  defer 
ence  which  he  always  paid  to  the  legislative  branch 
of  the  Government. 

Soon  after  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly,  Benja 
min  Harrison  desired  to  be  heard  in  defence  of  him- 

1  Among  Washington's  papers  in  State  Department,  Washington. 


492  PATRICK  HENRY. 

self  as  to  the  matters  which  had  caused  him  to  be 
left  out  of  the  congressional  delegation,  by  the  late 
Convention.  His  vindication  was  complete,  and  re 
sulted  in  his  being  re-elected  on  October  10,  to  take 
the  place  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  had  declined  the  ap 
pointment  in  order  that  he  might  be  in  the  Assem 
bly,  and  his  re-election  was  coupled  with  a  vote  of 
thanks  for  his  past  services.1 

Mr.  Jefferson  preferred  to  be  in  the  Assembly  be 
cause  he  desired  to  take  part  in  the  great  work  of 
adapting  the  laws  of  Virginia  to  her  condition  as  a 
free  commonwealth.  Upon  his  motion  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  make  a  general  revision  of  the 
laws,  and  the  Assembly  chose  by  ballot  Thomas 
Jefferson,  Edmund  Pendleton,  George  Wythe, 
George  Mason,  and  Thomas  Ludwell  Lee,  as  the  re 
visers.  Mr.  Lee  soon  died,  and  Colonel  Mason  de 
clined  to  act,  so  that  this  important  work  was  per 
formed  by  Jefferson,  Pendleton,  and  Wythe. 

There  were  several  matters  however  which  pressed 
for  immediate  attention,  and  could  not  well  be  post 
poned  for  a  general  revision.  Among  these  were 
the  establishment  of  admiralty  and  criminal  courts, 
the  definition  of  treason,  the  abolition  of  entailed 
estates,  and  the  discontinuance  of  the  tax  levied  for 
the  support  of  the  Established  Church.  The  legis 
lation  touching  the  last  two  of  these  was  of  the 
utmost  importance  in  shaping  the  destiny  of  the 
State. 

As  an  aristocracy  could  not  exist  except  with 
entailed  estates,  so  Mr.  Jefferson's  short  bill,  declar 
ing  that  estates  held  in  fee  taille  should  thenceforth 

1  Edmund  Randolph  gives  an  account  of  the  matter  in  his  letter  to 
Washington  of  October  11,  1770. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     493 

be  held  in  fee  simple,  effectually  destroyed  the 
aristocracy  which  had  existed  in  Virginia,  and 
established  democracy  on  its  ruins.  The  liability 
of  all  kinds  of  property  for  debt,  added  to  the 
abolition  of  entails,  effected  a  revolution  in  society. 
Men  could  no  longer  enjoy  property  who  had  the 
capacity  neither  of  acquiring  nor  of  retaining  it. 
Every  man  became  therefore  the  architect  of  his 
own  fortunes,  or  if  he  received  a  large  inheritance, 
developed  the  talent  of  preserving  it ;  else  he  sank 
into  poverty. 

The  action  of  the  late  Convention  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  religious  liberty  had  aroused  a  profound 
interest  among  the  people.  The  clear  enunciation 
of  the  principle  in  the  Bill  of  Rights  had  not  been 
followed  up  by  appropriate  legislation,  as  we  have 
seen,  and  dissenters  were  still  taxed  for  the  support 
of  the  Established  Church.  This  they  were  not  will 
ing  to  bear  longer,  and  when  the  Assembly  met 
they  presented  numerous  petitions  praying  relief. 
These  petitions  were  gotten  up  mainly,  if  not 
entirely,  by  the  Baptists  and  Presbyterians,  who 
constituted  the  great  bulk  of  the  dissenters.  An 
account  of  what  occurred  was  given  April  8,  1777, 
by  the  Reverend  Caleb  Wallace,  of  Charlotte  County, 
who  represented  Hanover  Presbytery  before  the 
Assembly,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  Reverend  James 
Caldwell,1  from  which  the  following  interesting 
extract  is  taken  : 

"  Our  Bill  of  Rights  declares  that  all  men  are 
equally  entitled  to  the  free  exercise  of  religion 
according  to  the  dictates  of  conscience,  etc.  Yet  in 

1  See  Historical  Magazine,  i.,  354. 


494  PATRICK   HENRY. 

some  subsequent  Acts  it  is  manifest  that  our 
Assembly  designed  to  continue  the  old  Church 
Establishment.  This,  and  some  Petitions  which 
were  circulated  through  various  parts  of  the  Country 
in  behalf  of  dignified  Episcopacy,  gave  a  general 
alarm  to  people  of  dissenting  principles,  and  the 
common  cry  was,  if  this  is  continued,  what  great 
advantage  shall  we  derive  from  being  independent 
of  Great  Britain  ?  And  is  it  not  as  bad  for  our 
Assembly  to  violate  their  own  Declaration  of 
Rights,  as  for  the  British  Parliament  to  break  our 
Charter  ?  The  Baptists  circulated  a  Counter  Peti 
tion  which  was  signed  by  above  10,000,  chiefly 
Freeholders.  Our  Transalpian  Presbyterians  were 
much  chagrined  with  what  they  understood  was  like 
to  be  publickly  done,  and  with  what  was  said  and 
done  in  a  more  private  way  against  dissenters ;  and 
indeed  many  dissenters  in  every  part  of  the  country 
were  unwilling  any  longer  to  bear  the  burden  of  an 
establishment.  These  circumstances  induced  our 
Presbytery  to  take  the  lead  and  prepare  a  memorial 
on  the  subject  to  be  presented  to  our  House  at  the 
session  last  fall,  and  as  none  of  the  members  who 
were  older  in  the  ministry  and  better  qualified  could 
undertake  it,  the  presbytery  appointed  me  their 
deputy,  which  obliged  me  to  make  the  case  a  popu 
lar  study,  which  indeed  I  had  done  for  some  time 
before,  and  to  attend  the  general  Assembly  6  or  8 
weeks.  The  result  was  the  Assembly  passed  an  act 
exempting  dissenters  for  all  time  to  come,  from  sup 
porting  the  church  of  England,  declaring  all  penal 
and  persecuting  laws  against  any  mode  of  worship, 
etc.,  null  and  void,  for  the  present  left  all  denomina 
tions  to  support  their  clergy  by  voluntary  contribu 
tions,  reserving  the  consideration  of  a  general  assess 
ment  for  the  support  of  religion  (as  they  phrase  it) 
to  a  future  session. 

"  This  you  may   suppose  was   very  pleasing   to 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     495 

some,  and  as  ungrateful  to  others,  and  still  there  are 
many  of  a  certain  church,  I  would  rather  say  crafts 
men,  who  are  hoping  that  something  will  yet  be 
done  in  favor  of  the  Great  Goddess  Diana,  and 
others  are  fearing  that  religious  liberty  and  the 
right  of  private  judgment  will  be  abridged  by  our 
assembly's  taking  upon  them  to  interfere  in  a  case 
that  lies  beyond  the  limits  of  civil  government. 
Thus  has  the  affair  ended,  or  rather  proceeded, 
without  producing  any  other  consequences  than  a 
day  or  two's  debating  in  the  House  and  a  little  news 
paper  bickering." 

Mr.  Wallace  was  educated  at  Princeton,  and  was 
appointed  in  1783  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Kentucky. 

Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  autobiography,  written  more 
than  forty-five  years  after  the  session,  gave  an 
account  of  what  happened  which  is  somewhat 
different.  He  wrote : 

"The  first  republican  legislature  which  met  in 
1776  was  crowded  with  petitions  to  abolish  this 
spiritual  tyranny  (the  establishment).  These 
brought  on  the  severest  contests  in  which  I  have 
ever  been  engaged.  Our  great  opponents  were  Mr. 
Penclleton  and  Robert  Carter  Nicholas ;  honest  men 
but  zealous  churchmen.  The  petitions  were  referred 
to  the  Committee  of  the  whole  House  on  the  state 
of  the  country  ;  and  after  desperate  contests  in  that 
Committee,  almost  daily  from  llth  October  to  the 
5th  of  December,  we  prevailed  so  far  only  as  to 
repeal  the  laws  which  rendered  criminal  the  main 
tenance  of  any  religious  opinions,  the  forbearance 
of  repairing  to  church,  or  the  exercise  of  any  mode 
of  worship  ;  and  further,  to  exempt  dissenters 
from  contributions  to  the  support  of  the  Established 


496  PATRICK  HENRY. 

Church  ;  and  to  suspend,  only  until  the  next  session, 
levies  on  the  members  of  that  church  for  the  salaries 
of  their  own  incumbents.  For  although  the  major 
ity  of  our  citizens  were  Dissenters,  as  has  been 
observed,  a  majority  of  the  legislature  were  Church 
men.  Among  these,  however,  were  some  reasonable 
and  liberal  men,  who  enabled  us,  on  some  points,  to 
obtain  feeble  majorities.  But  our  opponents 
carried,  in  the  general  resolutions  of  the  Committee 
of  November  19,  a  declaration  that  religious  assem 
blies  ought  to  be  regulated,  and  that  provision 
ought  to  be.  made  for  continuing  the  succession  of 
the  clergy,  and  superintending  their  conduct.  And 
in  the  bill  now  passed  was  inserted  an  express  reser 
vation  of  the  question,  whether  a  general  assessment 
should  not  be  established  by  law,  on  every  one,  to 
the  support  of  the  pastor  of  his  choice ;  or  whether 
all  should  be  left  to  voluntary  contributions." 

The  Journal  sustains  Mr.  Wallace  when  he  differs 
with  Mr.  Jefferson.  It  shows  that  on  October  11, 
"  a  Committee  of  Religion  "  was  appointed,  consist 
ing  of  Messrs.  Braxton,  Harwood,  Richard  Lee, 
Bland,  Simpson,  Mayo,  Hite,  Fleming,  James 
Taylor,  Watts,  Lewis,  Adams,  Curie,  Jefferson, 
Scott,  Page,  of  Spotsylvania,  McDowell,  and  the 
treasurer  (Robert  Carter  Nicholas). 

To  this  Committee,  and  not  to  the  Committee  of 
the  whole  House,  were  referred  the  several  petitions 
touching  the  Established  Church,  until  November  9, 
when  the  last  one  of  these  petitions  was  presented. 
Up  to  that  date  no  report  had  been  made  by  that 
Committee  on  the  subject.  On  that  day  the  follow 
ing  entry  appears : 

"  Ordered,  that  the  Committee  for  Religion  be 
discharged  from  proceeding  on  the  petitions  of  the 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     497 

several  religious  societies,  and  the  same  be  referred 
to  the  Committee  of  the  whole  House  upon  the 
state  of  the  country." 

The  House  did  not  afterward  resolve  itself  into 
a  Committee  of  the  Whole  upon  the  State  of  the 
Country,  till  Saturday,  November  16.  Coming  to  no 
conclusion  upon  the  matters  then  before  the  Com 
mittee,  it  sat  again  on  Monday,  and  again  on  Tues 
day.  On  the  last  named  day  the  Committee  re 
ported  a  series  of  resolutions  on  the  subject,  and  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  bill  in  accord 
ance  therewith.  This  committee  reported  Novem 
ber  30,  and  the  bill  was  discussed  in  Committee  of 
the  Whole  December  3,  and  4.  On  the  4th,  after 
being  amended,  it  was  ordered  to  be  engrossed,  and 
was  passed  on  the  next  day.  It  was  further 
amended  in  the  Senate,  and  finally  passed  on  De 
cember  9. 

It  would  seem  therefore,  that  from  October  11,  to 
November  9,  the  contests  were  in  the  "  Committee  of 
Religion  "  of  which  Mr.  Pendleton  was  not  a  mem 
ber,  and  that  there  were  no  prolonged  contests  after 
the  matter  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole  House.  Indeed,  the  formidable  array  of 
freeholders  who  signed  the  petitions,  and  who  must 
have  been  largely  members  of  the  Established 
Church,  was  enough  to  determine  the  course  of  the 
Legislature,  and  to  bring  about  the  result  which, 
from  Mr.  Wallace's  account,  was  easily  accom 
plished.  It  would  seem  most  probable  that  the 
real  contest  was  as  to  the  propriety  of  a  general 
assessment  for  the  support  of  religious  teachers, 
and  this  was  left  by  the  bill  "to  the  discussion 


32 


498  PATRICK  HENRY. 

and  final  determination  of  a  future  Assembly,  when 
the  opinions  of  the  country  in  general  may  be  better 
known." 

The  account  of  Mr.  Wallace  is  also  more  in  accord 
with  the  statement  of  Edmund  Randolph.1  He  says : 

"  It  has  been  seen  that  the  friends  of  the  Estab 
lished  Church  were  apprehensive  of  the  force  of 
their  own  principles,  to  which  they  had  assented  in 
the  bill  of  rights,  and  how  they  were  quieted  by  the 
assurances  of  Mr.  Henry.  But  they  were  patriots 
who  dreaded  nothing  so  much  as  a  schism  among 
the  people,  and  thought  the  American  principle  too 
pure  to  be  adulterated  by  religious  dissension. 
They  therefore  did  in  truth  cast  the  establishment 
at  the  feet  of  its  enemies." 

Among  the  many  petitions  presented  to  the 
Assembly  on  this  important  subject,  the  splendid 
memorial  of  Hanover  Presbytery,  which  was  be 
lieved  to  have  been  drawn,  as  well  as  presented,  by 
Reverend  Caleb  Wallace,  was  by  far  the  ablest 
paper.  This,  with  the  memorial  of  the  Presbytery 
against  a  general  assessment,  which  bears  date 
April  25,  1777,  left  little  for  Mr.  Jefferson  to  do  in 
subsequently  drafting  the  "  Bill  for  Establishing 
Religious  Freedom."  A  comparison  of  these 
memorials  with  Mr.  Jefferson's  famous  bill  reveals 
the  fact,  that  the  Presbytery,  representing  the  Pres 
byterians  of  the  State,  had  expressed  with  remark 
able  precision,  and  force,  the  proper  relations  of 
Church  and  State,  before  the  great  statesman  had 
drafted  his  act  defining  those  relations,2  and  that 

1  Manuscript  History  of  Virginia. 

2  See  Foote's  Sketches  of  Virginia,  323,  326,  346,  where  these  memo 
rials  and  Jefferson's  bill  are  given. 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     499 

the  act  was  no  advance  on  the  positions  taken  by 
the  Presbytery.  Indeed,  both  the  memorials  and 
Jefferson's  bill  are  but  echoes  of  the  noble  plea  for 
religious  liberty  made  by  Milton,  in  his  u  Treatise  of 
Civil  Power  in  Ecclesiastical  Causes,"  and  "  Con 
siderations  touching  the  likeliest  means  to  remove 
Hirelings  out  of  the  Church." 

The  act  passed  at  this  session  reserved  for  the  use 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  the  glebe  lands  of  which 
they  were  in  possession,  though  bought  with  public 
levies,  and  this  was  not  opposed  by  Mr.  Jefferson, 
as  appears  by  his  reporting  a  bill  to  the  same  effect 
in  the  revision. 

The  Assembly  on  meeting  evidently  thought  the 
State  was  in  no  immediate  danger  of  an  invasion  by 
the  British.  The  Governor  and  Council,  after  con 
ference  with  Generals  Lewis  and  Stephen,  had  called 
out  twenty-six  companies  of  Militia,  and  five  com 
panies  of  minute  men,  on  September  25,  to  take 
the  place  of  the  three  regiments  of  Continental 
troops  ordered  to  join  General  Washington  in  New 
Jersey,  but  the  Assembly  on  October  12,  recom 
mended  that  the  order  be  countermanded.  On 
November  21,  the  Governor  was  informed,  by  ex 
press,  that  upward  of  one  hundred  sail  of  the 
enemy's  ships  had  left  New  York  for  the  South, 
and  the  militia  from  the  tide- water  portion  of  the 
State  was  again  called  out ;  but  no  attack  was  then 
made  on  Virginia  by  the  British  fleet,  and  on  Decem 
ber  7,  the  cavalry  of  the  State  was  ordered  to  join 
General  Washington,  under  a  resolution  of  the 
Assembly.  Upon  receiving  the  requisition  of  Con 
gress  for  fifteen  regiments  to  serve  during  the  war, 
the  Governor  and  Council,  anticipating  difficulty  in 


500  PATRICK  HENRY. 

promptly  filling  the  requisition,  stopped  the  recruit 
ing  officers  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  from 
raising  soldiers  in  Virginia  to  meet  their  Continental 
quotas;  but  the  Assembly  subsequently  granted 
the  liberty,  the  order  in  reference  to  the  Georgia 
officers  being  made  as  late  as  December  18.  On 
the  game  day  the  Journal  shows  the  following  en 
try : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  House  have  great  pleas 
ure  in  observing  with  what  cheerfulness  and  alacrity 
the  volunteers  in  the  county  of  Frederick  have 
offered  their  service  to  join  the  Continental  Army 
under  his  excellency  General  Washington,  at  a  time 
they  supposed  important  and  critical ;  but  as  it  is 
probable  that  the  enemy  have  retired  into  winter 
quarters,  the  House  would  not  wish  their  brave 
countrymen  to  march  such  a  distance  in  this  incle 
ment  season  under  a  doubt  whether  there  will  be 
occasion  for  their  services,  but  will  rely  on  and  call 
them  if  such  occasion  should  happen." 

Trusting  that  the  British  had  gone  into  winter 
quarters,  and  perhaps  to  a  report  contained  in  the 
Gazette  of  December  13,  of  a  victory  gained  in  the 
Jerseys  by  Washington's  army,  the  Assembly  were 
under  no  alarm  as  late  as  December  19.  The 
Journal  shows  no  sign  of  uneasiness  up  to  that  date 
in  the  matters  considered  by  the  body.  The  House 
did  not  consider  the  state  of  the  country  in  Commit 
tee  of  the  Whole,  from  the  7th  till  the  18th  of 
December,  the  only  mode  of  considering  matters 
relating  to  the  war.  On  the  7th  the  Committee  dis 
cussed  and  reported  on  the  claims  of  certain  persons 
for  damages  sustained  from  the  soldiery,  and  on 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST   TERM.     501 

the  18th,  the  departure  from  the  State  of  British 
merchants,  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
was  discussed  and  ordered,  and  no  other  matter 
seems  to  have  been  before  the  Committee.  On  the 
19th  the  House  did  not  sit  in  committee.  On  the 
20th  the  Gazette  contained  most  alarming  intelli 
gence  from  the  North. 

After  stating  that  no  newspapers  from  Philadel 
phia  came  by  the  last  weekly  post,  owing,  it  was 
believed,  to  the  printers  having  fled  from  the  city,  it 
went  on  to  say  that :  "  Private  letters  advise  that  a 
division  of  General  Howe's  army  was  at  Burlington, 
part  at  Trenton,  and  that  another  detachment  had 
crossed  the  Delaware  above  Trenton,  the  whole 
comprising  a  body  of  between  12  and  15,000  men. 
That  General  Washington,  with  only  6,000  men,  was 
a  few  miles  distant  from  Howe's  army,  at  a  place 
called  Bristol ;  that  General  Lee  was  to  the  north 
ward,  on  the  flank  of  the  enemy,  with  about  4,000 
men ;  and  another  body  of  troops  were  in  Phila 
delphia  throwing  up  intrenchments,  and  putting  the 
city  in  a  posture  of  defence.  The  General  Congress 
were  preparing  to  remove  to  Baltimore." 

Now  for  the  first  time  the  Journal  shows  the 
House  alive  to  the  situation.  On  meeting  and 
attending  to  some  routine  business,  including  the 
partial  execution  of  an  order  for  the  election  of 
regimental  officers,  which  had  been  previously  fixed 
by  joint  resolution  for  that  day,  the  body  "  Resolved 
that  this  House  will  immediately  resolve  itself  into 
a  Committee  to  take  into  their  consideration  the 
state  of  America." 

Not  coming  to  a  conclusion  on  that  day,  the 
House  sat  as  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  state 


502  PATRICK   HENRY. 

of  America  on  the  21st,  and  reported  the  following 
resolutions,  which  were  agreed  to. 

"  It  being  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  nine 
battalions  heretofore  raised  in  this  commonwealth, 
and  now  in  Continental  Service,  should  be  com 
pleted,  and  the  six  new  battalions  for  the  same 
service,  as  well  as  the  three  battalions  on  the  pay  of 
this  commonwealth,  raised  with  all  probable  expedi 
tion; 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to 
the  justices,  the  members  of  the  county  committees, 
the  militia  officers,  and  the  other  good  people  of 
this  commonwealth,  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to 
forward  and  encourage  the  recruiting  service,  upon 
which  the  safety  and  happiness  of  their  country 
depends ; 

"  And  whereas  the  present  imminent  danger  of 
America  ;  and  the  ruin  and  misery  which  threatens 
the  good  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  and  their 
posterity,  calls  for  the  utmost  exertion  of  our 
strength,  and  it  is  become  necessary  for  the  preser 
vation  of  the  state  that  the  usual  forms  of  govern 
ment  should  be  suspended  during  a  limited  time, 
for  the  more  speedy  execution  of  the  most  vigorous 
and  effectual  measures  to  repel  the  invasion  of  the 
enemy ; 

" Resolved,  therefore,  That  the  Governour  be,  and 
he  is  hereby  fully  authorised  and  empowered,  by 
and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Privy 
Council,  from  hence  forward,  until  ten  days  next 
after  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  to 
carry  into  execution  such  requisitions  as  may  be 
made  to  this  Commonwealth  by  the  American  Con 
gress  for  the  purpose  of  encountering  or  repelling 
the  enemy,  to  order  the  three  battalions  on  the  pay 
of  this  commonwealth  to  march,  if  necessary,  to 
join  the  Continental  army,  or  to  the  assistance  of 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     503 

any  of  our  Sister  States,  to  call  forth  any  and  such 
military  force  as  they  shall  judge  requisite,  either  by 
embodying  and  arraying  companies  or  regiments  of 
volunteers,  or  by  raising  additional  battalions,  ap 
pointing  and  commissioning  the  proper  officers,  and 
to  direct  their  operations  within  this  Common 
wealth,  under  the  command  of  the  continental 
generals,  or  other  officers  according  to  their  respec 
tive  ranks,  or  order  them  to  march  to  join  and  act 
in  concert  with  the  continental  army,  or  the  troops 
of  any  of  the  United  American  States,  and  to  pro 
vide  for  their  pay,  supply  of  provisions,  arms,  and 
other  necessaries,  at  the  charge  of  this  Common 
wealth,  by  drawing  on  the  treasurer  for  the  money 
which  may  be  necessary  from  time  to  time;  and 
the  said  treasurer  is  authorized  to  pay  such  warrants 
out  of  any  publick  money  which  may  be  in  his  hands, 
and  the  General  Assembly  will  at  their  next  session 
make  ample  provision  for  any  deficiency  which  may 
happen.  But  that  this  departure  from  the  constitu 
tion  of  government,  being  in  this  instance  founded 
only  on  the  most  evident  and  urgent  necessity, 
ought  not  hereafter  to  be  drawn  into  precedent. 

"  Resolved,  also,  That  the  Governour  be  desired 
to  transmit  by  express  copies  of  these  resolves  to 
the  American  Congress,  and  to  the  neighboring 
States  of  Maryland  and  North  Carolina,  to  satisfy 
them  that  we  are  exerting  ourselves  in  defending 
the  liberties  of  America. 

"Resolved,  That  our  Delegates  be  instructed  to 
recommend  to  the  consideration  of  Congress 
whether  it  may  not  be  necessary  and  expedient  in 
the  present  dangerous  and  critical  situation  of 
America,  in  order  to  give  vigour,  expedition,  and 
secrecy  to  our  military  measures,  to  invest  the  com- 
mander-in- chief  of  the  American  forces  with  more 
ample  and  extensive  powers  for  conducting  the 
operations  of  the  war ;  and  that  they  will  earnestly 


504  PATRICK  HENRY. 

exhort  the  different  Legislatures  of  the  United 
American  States  to  adopt  the  most  speedy  and 
effectual  methods  for  calling  their  military  force 
into  action,  and  co-operating  with  the  generals  of 
the  American  armies." 

These  resolutions  were  sent  immediately  to  the 
Senate,  and  were  returned  the  same  day  with  an 
amendment  by  which  the  words,  "  the  usual  forms 
of  government  should  be  suspended,"  were  omitted, 
and  the  words,  "  additional  powers  be  given  the 
Governour  and  Council,"  were  substituted  in  their 
stead.  This  was  at  once  agreed  to,  and  then  the 
House  adjourned,  u  until  the  last  Thursday  in 
March  next,  then  to  meet  in  the  city  of  Williams- 
burg,  or  at  such  other  place  as  the  Governour  and 
Council,  for  good  reasons,  may  appoint,"  thus  pro 
viding  for  the  contingency  of  an  invasion  of  the 
State. 

In  transmitting  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  the 
executive  of  North  Carolina,  Governor  Henry  gave 
expression  to  the  generous  and  patriotic  feelings 
of  Virginia  in  the  following  letter. 

"WM8BURGH,  Decr  23d,  1776. 

"  SIR  :  By  the  inclosed  you  will  perceive  the  Ideas 
of  this  Commonwealth  on  the  subject  of  military 
things.  We  mean  to  act  with  vigour  and  upon  a 
liberal  plan.  If  your  State  shall  be  distressed,  ours 
will  gladly  contribute  to  its  Relief  if  possible. 
Our  Interests  are  the  same  and  our  operations  shall 
harmonize. 

"  No  news  on  which  I  can  depend  has  come  here 
lately  from  the  North.  I  judge  that  Philadelphia 
is  now  or  shortly  will  be  at  the  Mercy  of  the 
Enemy.  The  Middle  States  have  not  furnished 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     505 

Troops  in  so  great  numbers  as  were  expected.  I 
trust  your  Commonwealth  and  ours  will  exhibit  a 
different  spirit.  And  altho'  many  Difficultys  are 
to  be  encountered  on  the  subject  of*  necessarys, 
yet  I  hope  we  may  muster  a  formidable  Force  by 
the  Spring.  For  this  purpose  I  think  the  earliest 
preparations  should  be  made  ;  and  in  conformity  we 
are  setting  about  this  work  immediately. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be  Sir, 

"yr.  mo.  hble.  Servt. 

"  P.  HENRY  JE." 

(Addressed  to) 
The  Honble.  CORNELIUS  HARNETT,  ESQ. 

President  of  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
North  Carolina. 

It  was  to  the  closing  hours  of  this  Assembly  that 
Mr.  Jefferson  referred  in  his  "  Notes  on  Virginia," 
when  he  said : 

"In  December  1776,  our  circumstances  being 
much  distressed,  it  was  proposed,  in  the  House  of 
Delegates,  to  create  a  Dictator,  invested  with  every 
power,  legislative,  executive  and  judiciary,  civil  and 
military,  of  life  and  of  death,  over  our  persons  and 
over  our  properties." 

Girardin,  in  his  continuation  of  Burk's  "  History  of 
Virginia,"  writing  under  Mr.  Jefferson's  eye,1  repeats 
the  statement,  and  says,  that,  "  several  of  its  mem 
bers  proposed  and  advocated  the  measure."  He 
adds,  "  It  appears  from  concurring  reports,  that  this 
dictatorial  scheme  produced  in  the  Legislature 
unusual  heat  and  violence.  The  members  who 
favored,  and  those  who  opposed  it,  walked  the 
streets  on  different  sides." 

1  See  Jefferson's  Memoir. 


506  PATRICK   HENRY. 

Mr.  Wirt,  who  was  in  constant  communication 
with  Mr.  Jefferson  while  he  wrote  his  sketch  of 
Governor  Henry,  and  who  obtained  Mr.  Jefferson's 
corrections  and  approval  of  the  manuscript  before 
its  publication,1  also  repeats  the  statement,  and 
adds :  fi  That  Mr.  Henry  was  thought  of  for  this 
office  has  been  alleged,  and  is  highly  probable; 
but  that  the  project  was  suggested  by  him,  or  even 
received  his  countenance,  I  have  met  with  no  one 
who  will  venture  to  affirm.  There  is  a  tradition 
that  Colonel  Archibald  Gary,  the  speaker  of  the 
Senate,  was  principally  instrumental  in  crushing  this 
project;  that  meeting  Colonel  Syme,  the  step 
brother  of  Colonel  Henry,  in  the  lobby  of  the 
House,  he  accosted  him  very  fiercely  in  terms  like 
these  :  1 1  am  told  your  brother  wishes  to  be  dictator ; 
tell  him  from  me,  that  the  day  of  his  appointment 
shall  be  the  day  of  his  death — for  he  shall  feel  my 
dagger  in  his  heart  before  the  sunset  of  that  day ; ' 
and  the  tradition  adds,  that  Colonel  Syme,  in  great 
agitation,  declared,  that  if  such  a  project  existed, 
his  brother  had  no  hand  in  it,  for  that  nothing 
could  be  more  foreign  to  him,  than  to  countenance 
any  office  which  could  endanger  in  the  most  distant 
manner  the  liberties  of  his  country.'  The  intre 
pidity  and  violence  of  Colonel  Cary's  character 
rendered  the  tradition  probable,  but  it  furnishes  no 
proof  of  Mr.  Henry's  implication  in  the  scheme.  It 
is  most  certain,  that  both  himself  and  his  friends 
have  firmly  and  uniformly  persisted  in  asserting  his 


innocence." 


These   several  accounts   seem   to  have  been  the 
source   of   all   that   has   been   written    about   this 

1  Kennedy's  Life  of  Wirt,  i.,  407-417. 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     507 

incident,  and  if  not  directly  traceable  to  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  certainly  they  have  his  approval.  The  same 
authority  which  connects  Governor  Henry's  name 
with  the  scheme,  relieves  him  of  all  implication  in 
it,  and  his  innocence  is  further  shown  by  the  fact  of 
his  re-election,  without  opposition,  as  Governor  a 
few  months  afterward. 

But  the  Journal  of  the  Assembly,  taken  in  connec 
tion  with  the  history  of  the  times,  makes  it  apparent 
that  the  matter  has  been  greatly  misrepresented. 
Washington's  retreat  through  the  Jerseys  ended  on 
December  8,  but  owing  to  the  poor  arrangements 
existing  for  the  transmission  of  intelligence,  it  seems 
that  the  Virginia  Assembly  did  not  realize  the 
danger  which  threatened  the  State  until  December 
20.  Their  Journal  shows  this  very  plainly.  They 
were  then  on  the  eve  of  adjournment,  and  the  dis 
cussion  as  to  what  had  best  be  done  was  confined  to 
that  day  and  the  next.  The  result  reached  was 
an  increase  of  the  powers  of  the  Governor  and 
Council,  to  enable  them  to  prepare  for  the  defence 
of  the  state,  and  a  recommendation  to  Congress  to 
enlarge  the  powers  of  General  Washington.  The 
short  time  consumed  in  this  discussion  precludes  the 
idea  of  unusual  heat  and  violence,  and  of  the  forma 
tion  of  parties  so  bitter  toward  each  other  as  to 
walk  the  streets  on  different  sides,  as  related  by 
Girardin ;  nor  would  this  be  likely  where  so  great 
disparity  existed  in  numbers  as  is  given  by  this 
writer,  who  describes  the  advocates  of  the  scheme  as 
"  several  members."  It  must  be  remembered  too 
that  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  only  contemporary  who  has 
considered  the  matter  of  sufficient  importance  to  be 
recorded,  was  not  present,  having  left  his  seat  on 


508  PATRICK   HENRY. 

December  5.1  It  is  very  probable  that  the  matter 
was  not  seriously  contemplated,  and  was  but  the 
expression  of  some  alarmed  member,  which  met 
with  no  encouragement  from  firmer  minds,  or  it  may 
be  that  the  whole  story  arose  from  some  sneering 
remark  of  Colonel  Gary.  It  is  evident  that  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  have  repeated  the  charge,  the 
term  "  Dictator  "  has  been  used  to  mean  one  who 
exercises  extraordinary  powers,  rather  than  one  who 
is  vested  with  absolute  powers.  It  was  in  such  a 
sense  that  the  word  was  applied  to  Washington  in 
the  debates  in  the  Virginia  convention  of  1788, 
when  reference  was  made  to  his  extraordinary 
powers.  The  powers  of  Congress  existing  over 
Virginia,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Assembly,  and 
the  Continental  Army  under  Washington  being  the 
safeguard  of  the  continent,  it  would  have  been  the 
dream  of  a  madman  indeed,  to  have  constituted  one 
man  a  dictator  for  Virginia,  unless  that  man  was 
the  General  commanding  the  Continental  Army. 
That  the  Assembly  realized  the  superiority  of 
General  Washington's  position  is  manifest  in  the 
resolutions  they  adopted  asking  that  his  powers  be 
increased,  and  these  set  at  rest  the  tradition  as  to 
Governor  Henry. 

The  extraordinary  powers  actually  vested  in 
Governor  Henry  and  his  Council  were  not  as  great 
as  those  vested  subsequently  in  the  executive,  while 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  Governor,2  but  Governor  Henry 
was  the  more  fortunate  of  the  two  in  exercising  them 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  public.  It  is  evident  that 
the  Assembly  in  both  instances  deemed  their  ac 
tion  extra-constitutional,  and  only  justified  by  the 

1  Randall's  Jefferson,  i.,  205.         5  Hening's  Statutes  at  Large,  x.,  309. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST   TERM.     509 

emergencies  of  the  war ;  and  as  Mr.  Jefferson  him 
self  exercised  these  extra-constitutional  powers,  he 
might  very  properly  have  omitted  the  severe  strict 
ures  he  has  left,  in  his  "  Notes  on  Virginia,"  upon 
those  who,  upon  his  own  statement,  advocated  a 
departure  from  the  Constitution  only  greater  in 
degree.  Besides,  the  extraordinary  powers  vested  by 
these  resolutions,  which  seem  so  necessary  under  the 
circumstances  that  they  should  not  excite  comment, 
the  Executive  had  been  vested  by  the  Convention  of 
May  1776,  with  all  the  powers  previously  given  to 
the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  these  were  continued 
by  acts  passed  at  subsequent  sessions. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

GOVEKNOK  OF  VIRGINIA.—  FIBST  TEKM.-1777. 

Ee-enlistment  of  Virginia  Troops. — Difficulties  Besetting  the  Execu 
tive. — Efforts  of  Governor  Henry  to  Fill  up  Virginia's  Quota  of 
Troops. — Correspondence  with  Lee  and  Washington. — A  Draft 
Ordered. — Indian  Hostilities. — British  Subjects  Sent  Out  of 
Virginia. — Meeting  of  Assembly. — Confidential  Letter  of  Wash 
ington  to  the  Governor. — Acts  of  the  Assembly. —  Unanimous 
Ee-election  of  Patrick  Henry  as  Governor. — Attack  upon  Eich- 
ard  Henry  Lee  in  the  Assembly. — His  Triumphant  Vindication. 
—Governor  Henry  Visits  his  Home,  and  Arranges  for  his  Sec 
ond  Marriage. 

THE  extraordinary  powers  vested  in  Governor 
Henry  and  the  Council  were  needed  in  the  execution 
of  the  all-important  duty  of  making  up  the  Con 
tinental  contingent  of  troops,  and  those  needed  for 
State  defence.  The  Governor  had  seen  the  danger 
which  would  beset  the  cause  when  the  term  of  the 
first  enlistments  expired,  and  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  people  had  first  rushed  to  arms  would  be 
cooled  by  the  hardships  and  privations  of  war.  As 
early  as  July  27,  1776,  the  Council,  in  consideration 
of  the  fact  that  the  terms  of  the  First  and  Second 
Regiments  would  soon  expire,  recommended  to 
their  commanding  officers  to  take  steps  at  once  to 
re-enlist  the  men  for  three  years,  and  fill  up  any 
vacancies  by  other  recruits.  It  was  with  the  high 
est  gratification  that  the  Governor  learned,  a  few 
days  afterward,  that  the  soldiers  of  the  First 
Regiment,  which  had  been  his  special  command, 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST   TERM.     511 

Lad  determined  to  re-enlist,  and  desired  to  be  sent 
to  General  Washington's  army.  On  August  5,  the 
Council  noted  these  facts,  and  gave  permission  to  fill 
some  vacancies  in  the  ranks  out  of  the  minute  men 
in  service.  The  patriotic  example  thus  set  was 
followed  in  the  other  regiments  with  more  or  less 
unanimity.  But  in  addition  to  filling  up  the  ranks 
of  the  nine  regiments  in  Continental  service,  six  new 
regiments  were  to  be  raised  to  complete  the  quota 
required  by  Congress.  Every  nerve  was  now 
strained  to  accomplish  this,  but  for  fear  the  State 
might  be  invaded,  the  Governor  and  Council  deemed 
it  best  to  call  for  volunteers  in  addition.  On 
December  26,  1776,  the  Governor  issued  his  pro 
clamation  calling  for  volunteers  "  willing  to  engage 
in  the  defence  of  this  State,  or  march  to  the  assist 
ance  of  any  other,  should  the  exigency  of  things 
demand  it."  1  Finding  afterward  that  this  inter 
fered  with  the  enlistment  of  the  regular  troops,  the 
Council  on  February  19,  following,  directed  another 
proclamation  to  be  issued  countermanding  the  volun 
teer  enlistments,  and  urging  the  completion  of  the 
battalions  required  by  Congress.2 

A  graphic  picture  is  drawn  of  the  condition  of 
affairs  in  Virginia  at  the  beginning  of  1777  in  the 
following  letter  to  Richard  Henry  Lee. 

u  WILLIAMSBUKGH,  V",  January  9,  1777. 

"I  congratulate  you  my  dear  Sir  on  our  well 
timed  success  at  Trenton.  I  trust  the  honor  of  our 
arms  will  be  retrieved. 

"Our  levies  go  on  pretty  well  in  many  places ;  in 

1  American  Archives,  Series  5,  vol.  iii.,  p.  1425. 

2  This  appeared  in  the  Gazette  of  February  21,  1777. 


512  PATRICK  HENRY. 

some  the  great  want  of  necessary  clothing  & 
blankets,  retards  them.  Orders  issue  this  day  for 
the  officers  to  hold  themselves  &  soldiers  ready  to 
march  by  companies  &  parts  of  companies,  <fe  in 
a  little  time  they'll  go  off,  but  in  want  of  every 
thing. 

"I  observe  our  people  (a  few  excepted)  are  firm 
&>  not  to  be  shaken.  A  great  number  of  volun 
teers  may  be  had.  I  hope  all  the  enlistments  may 
be  filled,  but  doubt  if  it  can  soon  be  done.  I  am 
endeavoring  at  vigorus  measures.  Languor  seems  to 
have  been  diffused  thro'  the  Naval  department. 
However  I  hope  it  will  mend.  The  Cherokees  are 
humbled,  but  I  fear  hostility  about  Pittsburg  in  the 
spring,  <fe  have  provided  ammunition  and  provis 
ions  in  that  quarter,  &>  shall  be  able  to  muster  a 
formidable  militia  thereabouts.  The  powder  is  not 
yet  sent,  but  I  wait  only  for  the  result  of  a  council 
of  war  where  to  deposit  it.  Our  sea  coasts  are 
defenceless  almost.  Arms  &  woolens  are  wanted 
here  most  extremely.  We  are  making  efforts  to 
secure  them.  I  do  indeed  pity  your  situation.  I 
guess  at  the  many  perplexities  &  difficulties  that 
attend  you.  I  know  how  much  the  vigorous  counsels 
of  America  are  indebted  to  you  for  their  support. 
I  know  how  much  you  detest  the  spirit  of  indeci 
sion  and  lukewarmness  that  has  exposed  our  country 
to  so  much  peril.  Let  me  tell  you  that  altho'  your 
fatigue  is  almost  too  much  to  bear,  yet  you  must 
hold  out  a  little  longer.  Many  people  pretend  they 
perceive  errors  in  Congress,  &>  some  wicked  ones 
are  greatly  pleased  at  the  hopes  of  seeing  the  respect 
due  to  that  assembly  succeeded  by  contempt. 

"  Make  my  most  affe.  compliments  to  Col.  Frank.1 
Has  he  forgot  me?  Indeed  he  may  ask  me  the 
same.  Tell  him  that  from  morning  till  night  I 
have  not  a  minute  from  business.  I  wish  it  may 

1  Colonel  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     513 

all  do,  for  there  are  a  thousand  things  to  mend,  to 
begin. 

"Adieu  my  dear  Sir,  &  believe  me  your 
affectionate,  humble  servant,  u  p  TT 

"  To  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  ESQ.,  at  Congress. 

"P.S.  I  beg  you'll  tell  me  what  is  the  best 
method  for  doing  justice  to  Gen.  Stephen  as  to  his 
rank.  I  think  he  ought  to  be  raised  above  his 
present  rank." 

The  expectation  of  filling  up  the  new  regiments 
speedily,  was  doomed  to  disappointment.  Men 
hesitated  to  enlist  for  a  long  or  for  an  indefinite 
period,  to  be  engaged  in  distant  operations,  when 
their  own  families  were  left  unprotected,  as  was  the 
case  more  especially  along  the  western  frontier  and 
on  the  sea  coast,  the  one  being  liable  to  attack  from 
the  British  fleet,  and  the  other  from  the  savages. 
At  first  Governor  Henry,  who  exerted  himself  to 
the  utmost  to  meet  the  requisition  promptly,  blamed 
the  Continental  recruiting  officers.  In  writing  the 
following  letter  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  he  disclosed 
some  of  the  difficulties  which  surrounded  him. 

"  W'BURGH,  March  20,  1777. 

"  DEAK  SIR  :  Every  possible  method  has  been 
taken  to  hasten  the  march  of  the  new  Levys.  I  am 
sorry  to  observe  a  remissness  among  the  officers, 
over  whom  the  executive  of  this  country  can  exer 
cise  no  command  in  the  opinion  of  most  people.  In 
deed  they  have  a  general  want  of  necessarys  to 
struggle  with.  But  they  do  not  in  general  exert 
themselves  as  they  ought.  I've  sent  express  twice 
to  each  colonel,  &  besides  have  had  public  ad 
vertisements  repeatedly  in  the  papers.  All  won't 
do.  They  are  remiss.  I  guess  two-thirds  of  the 


514  PATRICK   HENRY. 

continental  Eecruits  are  enlisted,  but  in  broken 
Quotas.  Our  three  Battalions  are  more  than  half 
full.  The  inlistments  for  Georgia  (agt.  my  opinion 
permitted  by  the  assembly)  have  greatly  hurt  ours. 
A  fellow  called  the  i  Dragging  Canoe,'  has  seceded 
from  the  nation  of  Cherokees  &>  400  Warriors 
have  followed  his  fortune,  lying  in  the  Woods  & 
making  War  on  us  notwithstanding  the  peace  made 
with  Col.  Christian.  We  have  a  Treaty  on  foot 
still  with  that  people.  Orders  were  issued  a  few 
days  since  for  destroying  Pluggy's  Town.  Three 
hundred  Militia  are  ordered  on  that  service  from  the 
Neighbourhood  of  Fort  Pitt.  Five  swift  sailing 
Boats  are  gone  for  arms  to  the  West  Indies.  Our 
Factorys  are  making  some.  Perhaps  we  may  arm. 
our  own  Troops  &  some  others,  especially  if  the 
importation  succeeds.  A  French  ship  &>  2  Briggs 
are  lately  arrived  here.  'Tis  said  they've  warlike 
stores.  If  so  my  next  will  tell,  as  I've  sent  to 
purchase  them — I  hear  to-day  the  people  on  the 
Eastern  Shore  are  very  uneasy,  and  that  from  the 
great  number  of  disaffected  in  Maryland  and  Dela 
ware  the  Whigs  of  Virginia  are  inclined  to  move 
away  their  Familys.  I  suppose  the  number  is  small 
and  those  of  the  richer  sort.  The  poor  can't  remove. 
The  affairs  of  that  shore  puzzle  me.  Pray  advise  me 
what  it  is  best  to  do.  What  can  be  the  reason  of  no 
mails  from  the  North  ?  Adieu  my  dear  friend.  May 
your  powerful  assistance  be  never  wanted  when  the 
best  Interests  of  America  are  in  Danger.  May  the 
subterfuges  of  Toryism  be  continually  exposed  and 
counteracted  by  that  zeal  and  ability  you  have  so 
long  displayed,  to  the  peculiar  Honor  of  your  native 
country,  &,  the  advantage  of  all  the  United  States. 
"  I  am, 

"  Yr.  ever  aff te. 

"  P.  HENKY  JR. 

"  To  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  at  the  Congress." 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     515 

Eight  days  afterward  the  Governor  wrote  to  his 
friend  in  Congress,  complaining  of  another  difficulty 
which  had  arisen  and  threatened  to  thwart  his 
purposes.  The  great  depreciation  of  the  paper 
money  which  constituted  the  currency,  had  enabled 
men,  whose  avarice  exceeded  their  patriotism,  to 
engross  the  articles  needed  for  the  army,  the  scarcity 
of  which  had  so  retarded  enlistments.  In  order 
that  a  stop  might  be  put  to  this,  the  Governor  wrote 
the  following  letter : 

"  WILLIAMSBURG,  March  28th,  1777. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  The  practise  of  engrossing  all  foreign 
goods  &  Country  produce  has  gotten  to  an  enormity 
here,  particularly  in  the  latter  articles.  Corn  flour 
and  meat  are  bought  up  (as  I  was  informed  by  Col. 
Aylett)  in  so  much  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  fur 
nish  the  public  demands,  in  such  time  as  the  neces- 
sitys  of  the  army  require.  A  gentleman  here  in  part 
nership  with  Mr.  Morris,  has  speculated  very  largely 
in  such  articles  as  the  army  wants.  The  public  agent 
complains  he  is  anticipated.  I  hope  the  practise  will 
be  effectually  stopped,  or  fatal  consequences  must 
ensue.  I  write  to  the  General  that  our  enlistments 
go  on  badly,  Indeed  they  are  almost  stopped.  The 
Georgia  Service  has  hurt  it  much.  The  terrors  of  the 
smallpox,  added  to  the  lies  of  deserters  and  the  want 
of  necessary s,  are  fatal  objections  to  the  continental 
Service.  Perhaps  two-thirds  of  the  six  new  Battal 
ions  are  enlisted,  but  in  broken  quotas  scattered  far 
and  wide,  they  move  slowly.  How  long  wil]  you 
sit  at  Philadelphia  ?  I  fear  you  will  come  away 
again  before  the  campaign  is  long  begun.  I  heartily 
pray  for  your  prosperity  and  welfare,  and  as  the 
messenger  waits  I  must  conclude  this  scrawl  from 
"  Yr.  aff l.  friend,  "  P.  HENRY  JR. 

"  Can  you  tell  us  nothing  from  France  ? 

"  To  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  at  Congress." 


516  PATRICK   HENRY. 

On  the  next  day  the  following  letter  was  written 
to  General  Washington,  setting  out  more  in  detail 
the  causes  of  failure  in  raising  Virginia's  full  quota 
of  Continental  troops,  and  suggesting  a  resort  to 
short  enlistments  to  make  up  the  deficiency. 

"  WILLIAMSBURG,  29  March,  1777. 

"  SIR  :  I  am  very  sorry  to  inform  you,  that  the  re 
cruiting  business  of  late  goes  on  so  badly,  that  there 
remains  but  little  prospect  of  filling  the  six  new  bat 
talions  from  this  State,  voted  by  the  Assembly. 
The  board  of  Council  see  this  with  great  concern, 
and,  after  much  reflection  on  the  subject,  are  of  the 
opinion  that  the  deficiency  in  our  regulars  can  no 
way  be  supplied  so  properly  as  by  enlisting  volun 
teers.  There  is  reason  to  believe  a  considerable 
number  of  these  may  be  got  to  serve  six  or  eight 
months.  But,  as  you  were  pleased  to  signify  to  me 
that  great  inconveniences  had  arisen  by  the  admis 
sion  of  transient  troops  at  the  camp,  the  board  do 
not  choose  to  adopt  the  scheme  of  volunteers,  until 
we  are  favored  with  your  sentiments  on  the  subject. 
I  believe  you  can  receive  no  assistance  by  drafts 
from  the  militia.  From  the  battalions  of  the  Com 
monwealth  none  can  be  drawn  as  yet,  because  they 
are  not  half  full. 

"The  volunteers  will  consist  of  men  chiefly  from 
the  upper  parts  of  the  country,  who  would  make 
the  best  of  soldiers  could  they  continue  so  long  in 
the  service  as  to  be  regularly  disciplined.  They 
will  find  their  own  arms,  clothes,  and  blankets,  and 
be  commanded  by  captains  and  subalterns  of  their 
own  choosing ;  the  field-officers  to  be  chosen  by  the 
others.  They  will  be  subject  to  the  Continental 
Articles  of  War,  and  I  believe  will  be  as  respectable 
as  such  a  corps  can  be  expected,  without  training. 
I  cannot  speak  with  any  certainty  as  to  their  num- 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST   TERM.     517 

bers.  In  a  very  little  time,  seven  companies  were 
made  up  in  Augusta.  In  the  other  counties  no 
great  progress  was  made,  because  Government 
stopped  it,  on  being  informed  that  it  was  a  pre 
judice  to  the  regular  enlistment.  But  on  the  fail 
ure  of  this,  the  other  may  be  revived,  I  believe, 
with  success.  Virginia  will  find  some  apology  with 
you  for  this  deficiency  in  her  quota  of  regulars,  when 
the  difficulties  lately  thrown  in  our  way  are  con 
sidered.  The  Georgians  and  Carolinians  have 
enlisted  probably  two  battalions  at  least.  A  regi 
ment  of  artillery  is  in  great  forwardness.  Besides 
these,  Colonels  Baylor  and  Grayson  are  collecting 
regiments,  and  three  others  are  forming  for  this 
State.  Add  to  all  this  our  Indian  wars  and  marine 
service,  almost  total  want  of  necessaries,  the  false 
accounts  of  deserters,  many  of  whom  lurk  here,  the 
terrors  of  the  smallpox,  and  the  many  deaths 
occasioned  by  it,  and  the  deficient  enlistments  are 
accounted  for  in  the  best  manner  I  can. 

"  As  no  time  can  be  spared,  I  wish  to  be  honored 
with  your  answer  as  soon  as  possible,  in  order  to 
promote  the  volunteer  scheme,  if  it  meets  your  ap 
probation.  I  should  be  glad  of  any  improvements 
on  it  that  may  occur  to  you.  I  believe  about  four 
of  the  six  battalions  may  be  enlisted,  but  have  seen 
no  regular  return  of  their  state.  Their  scattered 
situation,  and  being  many  of  them  in  broken  quotas, 
is  a  reason  for  their  slow  movements.  I  have 
issued  repeated  orders  for  their  march  long  since. 
With  sentiments  of  the  highest  esteem  and  regard, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

"  PATRICK  HENRY,  JR. 

"  To  His  Excellency  GENL.  GEO.  WASHINGTON." 

General  Washington  replied  on  April  13,  1777,1 
commencing  his  letter  as  follows  : 

1  Post,  vol.  iii. ,  60. 


518  PATRICK   HENRY. 

"  It  gives  me  much  concern  to  hear  that  the  re 
cruiting  service  proceeds  so  slowly  in  most  of  the 
states.  That  it  is  the  case  in  Virginia  affects  me  in 
a  peculiar  manner.  I  feel  myself  much  obliged  by 
the  polite  respect  your  Honorable  Board  of  Council 
are  pleased  to  show  to  my  opinion,  and  am  under 
the  necessity  of  observing  that  the  volunteer  plan, 
which  you  mentioned  will  never  answer  any  valu 
able  purposes,  and  that  I  cannot  but  disapprove  the 
measure." 

r  He  then  proceeded  to  state  in  detail  his  objections 
to  the  plan,  and  it  was  at  once  abandoned. 

It  appears  by  this  reply  that  the  recruiting  service 
had  proceeded  slowly  in  most  of  the  States,  and 
Virginia  was  not  alone  in  failing  to  make  up 
promptly  her  quota  of  Continental  troops.  Her 
excuse  as  stated  by  her  Governor,  relieves  her  of  the 
charge  of  indisposition  to  fight  for  the  liberties  she 
claimed,  and  we  shall  see  that  the  enemy  recognized 
her  to  be,  as  she  undoubtedly  was,  one  of  the  great 
est  sources  of  supply  of  the  fighting  men  of  the  war. 

When  the  Assembly  met  in  May,  1777,  Governor 
Henry  recommended,  and  the  body  enacted,  a  law 
directing  a  draft  to  be  made  to  complete  the  six 
additional  regiments  called  for,  in  case  they  were 
not  filled  by  August  I.1  This  enabled  the  Gover 
nor  to  complete  the  regiments  required. 

The  order  to  destroy  Pluggy's  Town,  an  Indian 
village  beyond  the  Ohio,  was  caused  by  the  con 
tinuous  hostilities  of  its  inhabitants,  which  induced 
Congress  to  refer  to  the  Virginia  Executive  the 
question  of  making  war  upon  them.  On  March  12, 
1777,  the  Council  entered  a  minute  on  the  subject, 

1  Hening's  Statutes  at  Large,  ix.,  275. 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     519 

which  contained  an  order  for  the  expedition  after  a 
conference  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Delawares  and 
Shawnese,  through  whose  country  the  expedition 
would  pass,  in  case  these  friendly  tribes  made  no 
objection.  The  order  was  sent  to  George  Morgan, 
superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  and  to  Colonel 
John  Neville,  or  in  case  of  his  absence  to  Colonel 
Robert  Campbell,  at  Pittsburg,  and  was  enclosed 
with  a  letter  from  the  Governor  dated  March  12, 
1777,  which  shows  great  caution  and  humanity,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  determination  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  Indian  depredations.  This  communication  was 
answered  by  Messrs.  Morgan  and  Neville  in  a  letter 
of  April  I,1  which  represented  the  danger  of  stirring 
up  a  general  Indian  war  by  such  an  expedition,  in 
such  strong  terms  as  caused  the  abandonment  of  the 
enterprise.  They  advised  measures  for  pacifying, 
instead  of  punishing  the  Indians,  until  the  British 
were  driven  out  who  were  inciting  hostilities  through 
their  emissaries. 

The  Assembly  by  resolution  2  had  requested  the 
Executive  to  cause  the  departure  from  the  com 
monwealth  of  all  British  subjects  who  manifested 
hostility  to  the  American  cause.  These  consisted 
almost  entirely  of  merchants  who  represented  Brit 
ish  houses.  The  Executive  was  directed  to  furnish 
them  their  passage  in  vessels  in  the  employment  of 
the  State,  when  they  were  unable  to  procure  other 
means  of  departure.  To  enable  the  Executive  to 
execute  properly  this  delicate  trust,  the  justices  of 
the  county  courts  were  required  to  make  inquiry 
for  all  such  subjects  in  their  respective  counties,  to 
cause  their  names  to  be  entered  upon  record  and  to 

1  Post,  vol.  iii.,  46  and  54.  2  Journal,  p.  139. 


520  PATRICK   HENRY. 

be  transmitted  to  the  Governor.  The  execution  of 
this  resolution  required  the  greatest  firmness  as  well 
as  discretion,  and  the  Governor  was  not  able  fully 
to  comply  with  it  before  the  latter  part  of  May, 
1777,  when  we  find  him  sending  a  flag  to  the  Brit 
ish  officer  commanding  the  Albion,  with  the  request 
that  the  remnant  of  these  exiles  be  permitted  to 
embark  in  his  ship.1 

Although  there  was  no  attack  on  Virginia  from 
the  sea,  during  the  first  term  of  Governor  Henry, 
there  were  frequent  reports  of  movements  of  the 
British  Navy  which  caused  apprehension,  the  more 
serious  because,  from  the  great  extent  of  the  water 
front,  it  was  impossible  to  guard  the  coast  so  as  to 
prevent  a  landing.  These  apprehensions  caused  the 
Executive  to  keep  up  a  considerable  marine  force, 
and  to  keep  the  militia  in  the  adjoining  counties  in 
readiness  to  obey  any  sudden  call. 

On  May  5,  1777,  the  Assembly  met  at  Williams- 
burg  with  Mr.  JefEerson  among  its  members,  and 
the  leader  of  the  body,  as  plainly  appears  by  the 
Journal.  On  his  nomination  George  Wythe  was 
elected  Speaker  over  Robert  Carter  Nicholas  and 
Benjamin  Harrison,  and  before  the  20th  of  the 
month,  when  he  was  called  away  by  the  sickness  of 
his  wife,  he  had  introduced  much  of  the  important 
business  of  the  session. 

General  Washington  in  view  of  the  meeting  wrote 
to  Governor  Henry,  on  May  17,  a  long  and  con 
fidential  letter  in  the  interest  of  the  army.2  This 
was  transmitted  to  the  House  with  one  of  the 
several  messages  sent  in  by  the  Governor  which  had 
so  much  influence  in  shaping  the  action  of  the  body. 

1  Executive  Journal,  424.  2  See  post,  vol.  ill,  70. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     521 

Among  the  most  important  laws  of  this  session  may 
be  cited l  the  acts  for  regulating  the  militia,  for 
completing  the  State's  quota  of  Continental  troops, 
for  requiring  all  males  above  sixteen  to  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance,  for  establishing  loan  offices  for 
the  use  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State, 
for  providing  against  invasions  and  insurrections, 
for  the  support  of  the  credit  of  the  paper  money 
issued  by  Congress  and  by  the  State,  for  the  en 
couragement  of  the  manufacture  of  iron  and  salt, 
for  further  suspending  the  tax  for  the  clergy,  and 
for  removing  the  public  records  to  Richmond,  as  a 
place  of  greater  safety. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Assembly  at  its 
previous  session  postponed  the  question  of  an 
assessment  for  the  support  of  religion,  and  invited 
an  expression  of  the  wishes  of  the  people  on  the 
subject.  The  Journal  only  shows  three  responses  to 
this  invitation.  Two  from  sundry  inhabitants  of 
Cumberland2  and  Mecklenburg  Counties,3  were 
favorable  to  an  established  church.  The  third  was 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover 4  against  any 
assessment  for  the  support  of  religion. 

On  May  29,  the  body  proceeded  to  elect  a 
Governor  for  the  second  term.  So  completely  had 
Mr.  Henry  filled  public  expectation  that  all  opposi 
tion  to  him  had  vanished.  No  one  was  put  in 
nomination  against  him,  and  he  wTas  appointed 
Governor  for  the  year  commencing  with  the  end  of 
the  session,  by  joint  resolution  without  ballot.5 

A  committee,  with  Mr.  Richard  Lee  as  chairman, 
were  directed  to  notify  him  of  his  appointment,  and 

1  Heniiig's  Statutes  at  Large,  ix.,  267,  etc.  2  Journal,  36. 

3  Journal,  48.  4  Journal,  72.  5  Journal,  49. 


522  PATRICK   HENRY. 

they  reported  June  5,  through.  Mr.  Lee,  the  follow 
ing  happily  expressed  reply : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  The  signal  honour  conferred  on 
me  by  the  General  Assembly  in  their  choice  of  me 
to  be  Governor  of  this  commonwealth,  demands  my 
best  acknowledgments,  which  I  beg  the  favour  of 
you  to  convey  to  them  in  the  most  acceptable 
manner. 

"  I  shall  execute  the  duties  of  that  high  station, 
to  which  I  am  again  called  by  the  favor  of  my 
fellow-citizens,  according  to  the  best  of  my  abilities, 
and  I  shall  rely  upon  the  candour  and  wisdom  of 
the  Assembly,  to  excuse  and  supply  my  defects. 
The  good  of  the  commonwealth  shall  be  the  only 
object  of  my  pursuits,  and  I  shall  measure  my  happi 
ness  according  to  the  success  which  shall  attend  my 
endeavours  to  establish  the  public  liberty.  I  beg  to 
be  presented  to  the  Assembly ;  and  that  they  and 
you  will  be  assured,  that  I  am  with  every  sentiment 
of  the  highest  regard,  their  and  your  most  obedient 
and  humble  servant, 

"  P.  HENKY." 

This  action  of  the  Assembly  completely  puts  to 
rest  the  insinuation  made  after  his  death,  that 
Governor  Henry  had  aspired  to  dictatorial  powers, 
which  were  "only  disclaimed  under  a  threat  of 
assassination."  The  men  who  composed  the  As 
sembly  of  December,  1776,  largely  composed  that  of 
May,  1777,  and  Colonel  Gary,  who  is  said  to  have 
uttered  the  threat,  was  still  the  President  of  the 
Senate.  Had  Mr.  Henry  been  even  suspected  of 
aspiring  to  absolute  power,  he  would  not  have  been 
re-elected  without  opposition.  It  must  be  remem 
bered  too  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  afterward  so 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     523 

bitterly  denounced  the  alleged  scheme,  was  in  this 
body,  a  leading  member,  and  though  not  present  at 
the  election,  he  would  not  have  been  so  unfaithful 
as  not  to  have  organized  opposition  to  this  would-be 
tyrant,  before  he  left  his  seat.  So  far  from  this  we 
shall  find  him  the  next  year,  if  not  renoniinating 
Mr.  Henry,  yet  taking  an  active  part  in  his  re 
election. 

There  occurred  at  this  session  an  incident  which 
gave  the  Governor  the  deepest  pain,  as  it  seemed 
for  the  moment  to  place  a  stigma  upon  the  fair 
name  of  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  and  one 
of  the  purest  patriots  of  the  Revolution. 

The  great  talents  and  effective  labors  of  Richard 
Henry  Lee  in  the  cause  of  America  had  not  only 
excited  the  enmity  of  the  Tories,  but  had  aroused 
the  jealousy  of  some  of  the  less  gifted  patriots. 
Hearing  that  his  name  had  been  mentioned  in  the 
House  with  some  discredit,  he  wrote  from  Philadel 
phia,  November  3,  1776,  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  a  letter 
which  contained  the  following  paragraph : l  "I 
have  been  informed  that  very  malignant  and  very 
scandalous  hints  and  innuendoes  concerning  me  have 
been  uttered  in  the  House.  From  the  justice  of  the 
House  I  should  expect  they  would  not  suffer  the 
character  of  an  absent  person  to  be  reviled  by  any 
slanderous  tongue  whatever.  When  I  am  present  I 
shall  be  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  justice  I  am 
able  to  do  myself.  From  your  candor,  sir,  and 
knowledge  of  my  political  movements,  I  hope  such 
misstatings  as  may  happen  in  your  presence  will  be 
rectified."  Unfortunately  for  Colonel  Lee  his 
reliance  was  misplaced.  On  May  12,  1777,  in  view 

1  Campbell's  History  of  Virginia,  682.     Girardin,  Appendix  17. 


524  PATRICK  HENRY. 

of  the  approaching  election  of  delegates  to  Congress, 
Mr.  Jefferson  introduced  a  bill  "  for  regulating  the 
appointment  of  delegates  to  General  Congress," 
which  with  some  amendments,  not  affecting  its 
principles,1  passed  both  Houses,  and  was  designed 
to  defeat  the  re-election  of  Colonel  Lee.  It  declared 
a  delegate  who  had  served  three  years  continuously 
to  be  ineligible  till  after  the  lapse  of  one  year.2 
This  applied  solely  to  Colonel  Lee,  no  one  else  hav 
ing  served  the  State  three  successive  years  in  Con 
gress.  The  injurious  rumors  circulated  about  the 
absent  patriot  caused  the  Assembly  to  take  this 
method  to  get  rid  of  him  without  seeming  to  defeat 
him.  But  when  the  election  was  had,  May  22,  his 
friends  required  the  body  to  vote  against  him,  by 
putting  his  name  in  nomination  for  each  of  the  five 
places  in  the  delegation.  The  sickness  of  General 
Nelson,  and  the  presence  of  Mr.  Wythe  in  the 
Assembly,  had  left  an  unusual  amount  of  work 
upon  Colonel  Lee  and  detained  him  in  Philadel 
phia.  On  hearing  of  his  defeat  he  sat  down  at 
once  and  wrote  a  letter  to  Governor  Henry,  dated 
May  26,  1777,  which  contains  a  full  vindication  of 
himself.3 

This  letter  discloses  the  fact  that  already  there 
had  sprung  up  those  interstate  jealousies  which  have 
proved  so  baneful  to  the  welfare  of  the  United  States. 
Not  content,  however,  to  rest  under  the  injustice 
done  him  in  his  absence,  Colonel  Lee  obtained  leave 
of  absence  from  Congress  on  June  5,  and  repaired 
to  Williamsburg,  where  he  took  his  seat  in  the  As- 

1  Randall's  Life  of  Jefferson,  i.,  209.     The  limit  of  continuous  service 
was  put  at  two  years  by  Mr.  Jefferson. 

2  Hening's  Statutes  at  Large,  ix.,  299.  3  See  post,  vol.  iii.,  73. 


GOVERNOR  OF   VIRGINIA.— FIRST  TERM.     525 

sembly.  On  June  20,  he  asked  for  an  investigation 
of  the  matters  which  had  been  alleged  against  him. 
The  inquiry  was  conducted  in  the  presence  of  the 
Senate,  and  was  a  most  impressive  scene.  After 
hearing  several  witnesses,  Colonel  Lee  was  heard  in 
his  own  defence.  A  member  present,  who  classed 
himself  among  Colonel  Lee's  opponents,  thus  speaks 
of  this  speech  : 1  "  Certainly  no  defence  was  ever 
made  with  more  graceful  eloquence,  more  manly 
firmness,  equalness  of  temper,  serenity,  calmness, 
and  judgment,  than  this  very  accomplished  speaker 
displayed  on  this  occasion."  The  result  was  a  tri 
umphant  vindication.  The  House  at  once  voted  its 
thanks  to  Colonel  Lee  for  "  his  faithful  services  "  to 
his  country,  as  one  of  its  delegates  to  Congress,  and 
the  venerable  George  Wythe,  the  Speaker,  in  ren 
dering  them,  added  his  personal  testimony  to  the 
patriotic  zeal  which  had  marked  his  course,2  and 
was  so  overcome  with  feeling  as  to  shed  tears  in 
making  his  address. 

So  complete  was  the  triumph  of  Colonel  Lee  that, 
upon  George  Mason's  declining  to  act  as  a  delegate 
a  few  days  afterward,  he  was  elected  in  his  place  in 
the  face  of  the  act  just  passed.3  The  Assembly 
elected  John  Page,  Dudley  Digges,  John  Blair,  Bar 
tholomew  Dandridge,  Thomas  Walker,  Nathaniel 
Harrison,  Thomas  Nelson,  Jr.,  and  David  Jameson, 
members  of  the  Executive  Council. 

Before  entering  on  his  second  term  Governor 
Henry  retired  a  few  days  to  his  home,  to  arrange 
his  private  matters.  The  Journal  shows  his  absence 
from  June  20,  to  July  2.  It  was  during  this  visit, 

1  Colonel  John  Banister.     Bland  papers,  i.,  58.  !  Journal,  84. 

3  Journal,  94. 


526  PATRICK   HENRY. 

doubtless,  that  he  addressed  Dorothea,  daughter  of 
Nathaniel  West  Dandridge,  his  neighbor,  as  in  a 
letter  of  Colonel  William  Christian,  dated  August 
12,  his  marriage  to  her  is  referred  to  as  soon  to  come 
off. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND  TERM.— 1777-8. 

Vigorous  Measures  of  British  Ministry. — Plan  of  Campaign. — Bat 
tle  of  Saratoga. — Battle  of  Brandy  wine. — Occupation  of  Phila 
delphia. — Treaty  with  France. — Effect  in  England. — Death  of 
the  Earl  of  Chatham. — Serious  Effect  in  America  of  the  Depre 
ciation  of  the  Currency. — Proclamation  of  Governor  Henry. — 
His  Effort  to  Sustain  Public  Credit.— To  Recruit  the  Army.— 
To  Protect  the  Coast. — Correspondence  with  Washington. — At 
tempt  to  Engage  Governor  Henry  in  Plot  to  Supersede  Wash 
ington. — His  Patriotic  Conduct. 

THE  second  term,  upon  which  Governor  Henry 
now  entered,  was  the  period  in  which  the  successful 
issue  of  the  Revolution  was  assured.  The  memorable 
events  which  were  crowded  into  it  not  only  made 
certain  the  independence  of  the  United  States,  but 
secured  the  Mississippi  as  their  western  limit,  thus 
opening  the  way  for  their  subsequent  advance  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  Nor  were  they  less  marked  in 
their  effect  upon  Europe.  Through  the  French  al 
liance  American  ideas  were  transported  to  France. 
But  mixed  there  with  infidelity,  liberty  soon  turned 
into  license,  and  the  French  Revolution  afterward 
burst  forth  with  a  fury  which  alarmed,  while  it 
shocked,  the  civilized  world. 

The  British  Ministry,  deeply  chagrined  that  its 
army  and  navy  had  not  reduced  America  to  sub 
jection,  determined  on  more  vigorous  measures.  In 
February,  1777,  Lord  George  Germaine,  the  minister 
having  charge  of  American  affairs,  introduced  a  bill 


528  PATRICK  HENRY. 

for  the  suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  and 
the  arrest  of  all  persons  suspected  of  treason  or 
piracy,  crimes  which  were  imputed  to  those  resist 
ing  the  British  authority  on  land  and  sea.  This 
bill,  though  resisted  by  the  minority,  who  still  stood 
nobly  for  America,  was  passed  in  both  houses  by 
the  usual  ministerial  majority.  Its  object  doubtless 
was  to  intimidate,  but  it  utterly  failed  of  its  mark. 
E.  H.  Lee  gave  expression  to  the  feeling  with  which 
it  was  received  in  America,  when  referring  to  it  in 
his  letter  to  Governor  Henry,  of  May  6,  he  said  : 
"  It  is  an  acrimonious  and  foolish  display  of  tyr 
anny."  The  contempt  felt  for  it  on  the  land  was 
shared  by  the  gallant  sailors  who  harassed  British 
commerce  on  the  sea,  and  found  friendly  ports  for 
their  prizes  on  the  coast  of  France. 

The  British  forces  serving  in  America  were  in 
creased  to  48,000,1  and  a  plan  was  adopted  for  the 
campaign  of  1777,  which  was  well  .calculated  to 
subdue  the  New  England  States ;  and  when  this 
was  accomplished,  it  was  believed  the  others  would 
be  easily  subjected  in  detail.  The  plan  determined 
on  was  to  send  an  army  from  Canada,  which  should 
march  down  the  course  of  the  Hudson,  and  unite 
at  Albany  with  a  force  to  be  sent  up  the  river 
from  New  York.  This  united  army,  having  thus 
cut  off  the  Eastern  from  the  other  States,  was  to  de 
vote  itself  to  the  work  of  subjugating  New  Eng 
land.  The  army  under  Washington  was  in  the 
meantime  to  be  detained  near  Philadelphia  by  a 
demonstration  in  force  against  that  city.  The  army 
from  Canada  was  entrusted  to  the  accomplished 
Burgoyne,  who,  with  Germaine  and  the  King,  had 

1  So  stated  in  the  Parliamentary  debates. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     529 

arranged  the  plan,  and  who,  besides  a  picked  body 
of  regulars  and  German  mercenaries,  was  largely  re- 
enforced  by  Canadians  and  Indians.  His  army  was 
estimated  at  between  8,000  and  10,000  men.  It 
was  the  employment  of  these  Indians  which  occa 
sioned  the  eloquent  denunciation  of  the  ministry  by 
Burke  and  Chatham,  in  which  the  latter  declared 
that1  "  such  a  mode  of  warfare  was  in  his  opinion  a 
contamination,  a  pollution  of  our  national  character, 
a  stigma  which  all  the  waters  of  the  rivers  Dela 
ware  and  Hudson  would  never  wash  away ;  it 
would  rankle  in  the  breast  of  America,  and  sink  so 
deep  into  it  that  he  was  almost  certain  they  would 
never  forget  nor  forgive  the  horrid  injury." 

This  employment,  instead  of  aiding  the  invasion, 
went  far  toward  effecting  its  defeat.  Burgoyne  in 
deed  attempted  to  impress  upon  the  Indians  the  ne 
cessity  of  waging  war  upon  principles  of  civilization, 
but  in  order  to  intimidate  the  Americans,  he  issued 
a  proclamation  denouncing  woe  upon  all  persisting  in 
rebellion,  and  threatening  them  with  the  horrors  of 
Indian  warfare.  This,  instead  of  intimidating, 
aroused  the  indignation  of  the  people  he  invaded, 
and  caused  them  to  put  forth  every  effort  to  destroy 
his  army.  Burgoyne  marched  from  St.  John  June  16, 
1777,  and  at  first  met  with  success,  driving  before 
him  the  weak  forces  posted  along  the  lakes.  But 
his  triumphant  career  was  soon  checked.  St.  Leger, 
sent  by  him  to  reduce  Fort  Stanwix,  was  forced  to 
retreat  after  abandoning  his  stores,  and  a  large 
force  sent  under  Colonel  Baum  to  capture  some 
provisions  collected  by  the  Americans  at  Benning- 
ton,  was  signally  routed,  August  16,  by  a  body  of 

1  Hansard  :  Parliamentary  History,  xix.,  489. 


530  PATRICK  HENRY. 

militia  under  General  Stark.  It  was  in  reference 
to  this  victory  that  Governor  Henry,  with  a  noble 
spirit,  wrote  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  September  12, 
1777  :  "I  rejoice  over  our  success  over  Burgoyne, 
and  I  rejoice  because  the  New  England  men  had  so 
great  a  share  in  it.  For  a  malevolent  set  are  contin 
ually  endeavoring  to  spread  jealousy s  of  these  our 
honest,  best,  and  most  faithful  allys.  In  proportion 
as  I  hear  them  traduced,  my  esteem  for  them  in 
creases.  I  hope  now  we  shall  hear  no  more  to  their 
prejudice.  Indeed  I  am  not  a  judge  how  far  they 
have  lately  complyed  with  the  requisitions  of  Con 
gress,  but  only  speak  of  them  as  they  stood  when  I 
was  a  member." 

On  August  19,  General  Schuyler,  who  had  been 
in  command  of  the  Northern  army  opposing  Bur 
goyne,  was  displaced  by  Congress,  and  General  Gates 
was  appointed  in  his  stead.  At  his  earnest  solicita 
tion,  the  army  under  Washington  was  weakened  by 
sending  him  the  splendid  rifle  corps  commanded  by 
Colonel  Daniel  Morgan,  composed  largely  of  Scotch- 
Irish  from  the  valley  of  Virginia.  Washington  also 
furnished  him  with  part  of  his  artillery.  General 
Gates  took  command  of  a  fine  army  of  upward  of 
18,000  men,  including  militia,  while  Burgoyne's 
forces  had  been  reduced  to  about  6,000  by  the  de 
sertion  of  the  Canadians  and  Indians,  and  his  sup 
plies  had  become  so  nearly  exhausted  that  he  was 
forced  to  fight  or  retreat.  General  Clinton  had  left 
New  York  with  the  purpose  of  reducing  the  posts 
on  the  Hudson,  and  making  a  junction  with  Bur 
goyne  ;  but  the  delay  in  starting  and  the  difficulty  of 
reducing  the  posts  so  retarded  him,  that  Burgoyne 
despaired  of  timely  aid  from  that  source.  Under 


GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     531 

these  circumstances  the  famous  battle  of  October  7, 
1777,  was  fought  near  Saratoga,  which  resulted  in  a 
complete  victory  for  the  Americans,  and  was  fol 
lowed  on  October  17,  by  the  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne's  army.  In  this  battle  Morgan's  corps  ren 
dered  great  service.  It  was  opposed  by  the  right 
wing  of  the  British,  led  by  the  gallant  General 
Fraser,  the  favorite  of  his  army.  Morgan,  noticing 
the  influence  of  this  officer  in  the  battle,  pointed 
him  out  to  one  of  his  riflemen,  who  brought  him 
down  with  a  shot,  and  the  confusion  which  ensued 
was  decisive  of  the  battle.  It  is  related  of  Bur- 
goyne  that  when  he  was  afterward  introduced  to 
Colonel  Morgan,  he  grasped  his  hand  and  said  : 
"  Sir,  you  command  the  finest  regiment  in  the 
world." 

So  important  in  its  results  was  this  victory  that 
the  battle  has  been  included  by  Creasy  among  his 
uThe  Fifteen  Decisive  Battles  of  the  World,"  as  se 
curing  American  independence. 

While  these  important  events  were  taking  place 
in  the  North,  the  army  under  Washington  was  not 
idle.  In  the  spring  General  Howe,  with  a  greatly 
superior  force,  had  vainly  endeavored  to  draw  Wash 
ington  into  battle,  and  had  finally  withdrawn  from 
New  Jersey  to  New  York.  From  that  city  in  Au 
gust  he  embarked  with  18,000  troops  for  Chesapeake 
Bay.  Sailing  up  the  bay  he  landed  at  the  head  of 
Elk  and  advanced  toward  Philadelphia.  Wash 
ington,  with  an  army  of  only  11,000  men,  threw 
himself  across  Howe's  path,  and  fought  the  battle 
of  Brandy  wine,  September  11.  in  which,  while  de 
livering  a  heavy  blow  to  his  antagonist,  he  was 
forced  to  leave  him  master  of  the  field.  Then  fol- 


532  PATRICK  HENRY. 

lowed  the  occupation  of  Philadelphia  by  the  British, 
September  27,  and  the  spirited  attack  upon  Howe 
at  Germantown,  October  4,  which,  but  for  the  con 
fusion  produced  by  a  fog,  would  have  resulted  in  a 
brilliant  victory  for  the  Americans,  and  which  pre 
vented  Howe  from  attacking  Washington  during  the 
ensuing  fall  and  winter — a  winter  memorable  for  the 
sufferings  of  the  American  army  at  Valley  Forge, 
and  the  plot  to  supersede  Washington,  known  as  the 
Conway  cabal.  As  the  Virginia  troops  composed  a 
large  part  of  Washington's  army,  they  were  en 
gaged  in  these  several  battles,  and  won  great  dis 
tinction  by  their  valor  and  soldierly  conduct. 

The  effect  of  these  military  operations  in  Europe 
was  most  important.  On  September  26,  1776,  Con 
gress  had  appointed  Benjamin  Franklin,  Silas  Deane, 
and  Thomas  Jefferson  commissioners  to  the  Court  of 
France,  charged  with  the  duty  of  negotiating  a  treaty 
with  that  kingdom.  Mr.  Jefferson  declining  the  ap 
pointment,  Arthur  Lee  was  substituted  in  his  stead. 
Deane  and  Lee  were  already  in  Europe,  and  were 
joined  by  Franklin  in  December.  His  appointment 
was  most  fortunate.  His  reputation  as  a  philosopher 
preceded  him,  and  his  simple  manners,  strong  sense, 
and  charming  wit  made  him  an  object  of  general 
admiration,  and  greatly  added  to  the  popularity  of 
the  cause  he  represented ;  a  cause  which  had  already 
excited  the  sympathy  of  the  French  people.  The 
commissioners  were  not  publicly  received,  but, 
against  the  protest  of  Lord  Stormont,  the  English 
Minister,  they  were  allowed  to  reside  near  the  Court, 
and  assistance  was  secretly  given  to  the  American 
cause.  But  when  news  of  the  capture  of  Ticon- 
deroga,  the  victorious  march  of  Burgoyne  toward 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     533 

Albany,  and  the  occupation  of  Philadelphia  by 
Howe,  reached  Paris,  the  conduct  of  the  French 
Court  suddenly  changed.  American  privateers  were 
detained  in  port,  the  American  agent  concerned  in 
fitting  them  out  was  thrown  into  the  Bastile,  the 
supplies  previously  furnished  were  stopped,  and  the 
English  Minister  was  assured  that  the  treaties  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  France  would  be  faithfully 
observed.  The  American  cause  was  believed  to  be 
lost  both  in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  and  it  is 
charged  by  the  English  historian,  Creasy,  that  the 
American  commissioners  endeavored  to  open  com 
munications  with  the  British  Ministry,  while  they, 
in  their  elation,  refused  to  listen  to  any  overtures  of 
accommodation.  This  statement  is  probably  incor 
rect,  but  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  they  found  the 
French  Court  indisposed  to  commit  itself,  under  the 
fear  that  American  independence  could  not  longer  be 
maintained  by  American  arms. 

On  December  4, 1777,  a  special  messenger  brought 
the  commissioners  intelligence  of  the  battles  of  Ger- 
mantown  and  Saratoga.  Upon  its  being  communi 
cated  to  the  French  Court,  it  at  once  determined  the 
King  to  take  the  step  so  long  desired  by  his  people. 
On  the  6th  the  commissioners  were  informed  that 
France  was  ready  to  acknowledge  the  independence 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  enter  into  treaties  of 
commerce  and  alliance.  These  were  signed  on  Feb 
ruary  6,  1778,  but  were  kept  secret  till  March,  in 
order  that  preparation  might  be  made  for  the  open 
breach  with  England  which  their  promulgation  was 
sure  to  make.  Information  of  the  signing  of  the 
treaties  was  conveyed  immediately,  however,  to  his 
Government  by  the  British  Minister  at  Paris,  and 


534  PATRICK   HENRY. 

the  Ministry  at  once  set  to  work  to  prevent,  if  pos 
sible,  the  union  of  America  with  the  hereditary 
enemy  of  England.  Keeping  the  information  con 
veyed  from  Paris  secret,  Lord  North,  on  February 
19,  agreeable  to  previous  notice,  introduced  in  the 
House  of  Commons  conciliatory  propositions,  which 
abandoned  all  the  pretensions  of  the  Government 
toward  America,  on  condition  that  the  United  States 
should  give  up  independence  and  resume  their  rela 
tions  as  colonies,  and  provided  for  commissioners 
to  convey  these  proposals  to  Congress  and  to  the 
several  State  Legislatures. 

In  his  speech  the  Minister  declared  that  he  had  al 
ways  been  opposed  to  taxing  America.  It  was  said 
by  one  person  present  that  "  a  dull  melancholy  silence 
for  some  time  succeeded  to  this  speech.  Astonish 
ment,  dejection,  and  fear  overclouded  the  whole 
assembly.  It  was  generally  concluded  that  some 
thing  more  extraordinary  and  alarming  had  hap 
pened  than  yet  appeared,  which  was  of  force  to 
produce  such  an  apparent  change  in  measures,  prin 
ciples,  and  arguments."  * 

The  mystery  was  soon  solved,  for  on  February 
23,  Edward  Gibbon  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  It  is 
positively  asserted,  both  in  private  and  in  Parlia 
ment,  and  not  contradicted  by  ministers,  that  on  the 
fifth  of  this  month,  a  treaty  of  commerce,  which 
naturally  leads  to  war,  was  signed  at  Paris  with  the 
independent  States  of  America.  Yet  there  still 
remains  a  hope  that  England  may  obtain  the  pref 
erence.  The  two  greatest  countries  in  Europe  are 
fairly  running  a  race  for  the  favour  of  America." 2 

1  Hansard :   Parliamentary  History,  xix. ,  767. 

2  Diplomacy  of  United  States,  i.,  87. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND  TERM.     535 

In  April  a  large  French  squadron  under  the 
Count  d'Estaing  sailed  from  Toulon  for  the  Ameri 
can  coast,  to  aid  the  United  States,  and  to  counter 
act  the  influence  of  the  British  commissioners,  then 
about  to  sail  with  the  conciliatory  propositions. 

On  April  7,  the  Duke  of  Richmond  moved  in  the 
House  of  Lords  an  address  to  the  King,  advising 
that  the  British  forces  be  withdrawn  from  America, 
and  conciliation  be  effected  with  the  United  States ; 
in  effect  acknowledging  their  independence. 

The  Earl  of  Chatham  had  acted  with  the  Rocking- 
ham  party  in  opposing  the  measures  of  the  Ministry 
toward  America,  but  the  dismemberment  of  the 
British  Empire,  which  he  had  made  so  glorious, 
was  abhorrent  to  his  soul ;  and  that  such  a  dismem 
berment  should  be  effected  by  France,  her  heredi 
tary  enemy,  so  signally  humbled  by  him,  added  in 
tolerable  poignancy  to  the  thought.  Upon  notice 
of  the  motion  of  his  fellow- Whig,  he  arose  from  his 
sick  bed  and  insisted  on  being  carried  to  the  House. 
A  memorable  scene  occurred.1 

Lord  Chatham  came  into  the  House  of  Lords, 
leaning  upon  two  friends,  lapped  up  in  flannel,  pale 
and  emaciated.  Within  his  large  wig  little  more 
was  to  be  seen  than  his  aquiline  nose  and  his  pene 
trating  eye.  He  looked  like  a  dying  man;  yet 
never  was  seen  a  figure  of  more  dignity ;  he  ap 
peared  like  a  being  of  a  superior  species. 

He  rose  from  his  seat  with  slowness  and  difficulty, 
leaning  on  his  crutches,  and  supported  under  each 
arm  by  his  two  friends.  He  took  one  hand  from 
his  crutch  and  raised  it,  casting  his  eyes  toward 
heaven,  and  said,  "I  thank  God  that  I  have  been 

1  Hansard  :  Parliamentary  History,  xix. ,  1030. 


536  PATRICK  HENRY. 

enabled  to  come  here  this  day  to  perform  my  duty, 
and  to  speak  on  a  subject  which  has  so  deeply  im 
pressed  my  mind.  I  am  old  and  infirm — have  one 
foot,  more  than  one  foot  in  the  grave — I  am  risen 
from  my  bed  to  stand  up  in  the  cause  of  my  country 
— perhaps  never  again  to  speak  in  this  House ! " 
The  purport  of  this  speech  is  well  known.  The  rev 
erence — the  attention — the  stillness  of  the  House 
was  most  affecting  ;  if  anyone  had  dropped  a  hand 
kerchief,  the  noise  would  have  been  heard. 

At  first  he  spoke  in  a  very  low  and  feeble  tone  ; 
but  as  he  grew  warm,  his  voice  rose,  and  was  as 
harmonious  as  ever ;  oratorical  and  affecting,  perhaps 
more  than  at  any  former  period,  both  from  his  own 
situation,  and  from  the  importance  of  the  subject 
on  which  he  spoke.  He  gave  the  whole  history  of 
the  American  dispute ;  of  all  the  measures  to  which 
he  had  objected;  and  all  the  evils  which  he  had 
prophesied  in  consequence  of  them ;  adding  at  the 
end  of  each,  "  And  so  it  proved  !. " 

In  one  part  of  his  speech  he  ridiculed  the  appre 
hension  of  an  invasion,  and  then  recalled  the  re 
membrance  of  former  invasions.  "  Of  a  Spanish  in 
vasion,  of  a  French  invasion,  of  a  Dutch  invasion, 
many  noble  lords  may  have  read  in  history,  and 
some  lords  [looking  keenly  at  one  who  sat  near 
him]  may  perhaps  remember  a  Scotch  invasion." 

While  the  Duke  of  Richmond  was  speaking  (in 
reply)  he  looked  at  him  with  attention  and  com 
posure  ;  but  when  he  rose  up  to  answer,  his  strength 
failed  him  and  he  fell  backward.  He  was  instantly 
supported  by  those  who  were  near  him,  and  every 
one  pressed  around  him  with  anxious  solicitude.  His 
youngest  son,  the  Honorable  James  Pitt,  was  par- 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     537 

ticularly  active  and  efficient  in  assisting  his  venerable 
father,  though  the  youth  was  not  more  than  seven 
teen  or  eighteen  years  of  age.  Lord  Chatham  was 
carried  to  Mr.  Sergent's  house  in  Downing  Street. 
From  thence  he  was  carried  home  to  Hayes,  and  put 
to  bed.  He  never  rose  again.  Thus  tragically 
passed  off  the  stage  the  greatest  of  England's  ora 
tors,  and  one  of  the  grandest  characters  in  history. 

The  motion  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond  was  lost  by 
a  vote  of  33  ayes  to  50  noes.  And  the  commission 
ers  sailed  only  to  fail  utterly  in  their  mission. 

During  this  interesting  period  Governor  Henry 
was  a  conspicuous  figure,  and  acted  an  important 
part.  He  took  the  oath  of  office  July  2,  1777,  and 
was  at  once  confronted  by  what  proved  to  be  the 
greatest  danger  which  threatened  the  patriot  cause 
during  the  Revolution,  the  depreciation  of  the  paper 
money,  State  and  Continental,  which,  unsupported  by 
taxation,  had  been  relied  on  to  conduct  the  war. 
He  had  favored  taxation  to  sustain  the  credit  of  the 
State,1  but  the  legislature  was  afraid  to  impose  it 
upon  a  people  already  heavily  burdened,  and  con 
tented  itself  by  requiring  paper  money  to  be  taken 
as  the  equivalent  of  specie.  He  had  endeavored  to 
use  tobacco  and  other  articles  which  could  be  ex 
ported,  as  a  basis  of  credit,  but  the  British  blockade 
had  prevented  this  effort  from  being  effectual.  He 
now  found  that  the  thirst  for  gain  was  inducing 
men  to  engross  articles  of  prime  necessity,  with  a 
view  to  a  profit  from  the  further  depreciation  of  the 
currency,  and  that  the  Tories,  open  or  disguised, 
were  preventing  the  recruiting  for  the  ranks  by  false 
rumors,  which  had  also  the  effect  of  further  depre- 

1  Letter  of  P.  Henry  to  R.  H.  Lee. 


538  PATRICK  HENRY. 

elating  the  currency,  whose  value  depended  on  suc 
cess.  In  order  to  prevent  the  disastrous  results 
which  were  threatened,  he  issued  on  July  8,  the 
following  proclamation  : 

"Whereas  I  have  been  credibly  informed  that 
several  persons  are  going  about  in  different  parts  of 
this  State — some  of  them  in  the  guise  of  officers — en 
grossing  the  commodities  of  the  country  at  the  most 
extravagant  prices,  with  a  view,  as  is  supposed,  of 
depreciating  our  currency ;  and  discouraging  the  peo 
ple,  moreover,  by  their  false  and  injurious  reports  of 
the  condition  of  our  army,  under  his  Excellency, 
General  Washington,  and  of  the  general  posture  of 
our  affairs,  from  engaging  in  the  American  ser 
vice  ;  to  the  end,  therefore,  that  all  such  persons 
may  be  vigilantly  inspected,  and  particularly  that 
they  may  be  obliged  to  give  that  security  for  their 
friendship,  which  the  act  of  the  last  session  requires 
of  all  persons  coming  within  the  State  from  any 
other  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that  such  of  them  as 
may  appear  to  violate  another  act  of  a  former  ses 
sion  by  discouraging  people  from  enlisting  as  sol 
diers,  may  be  brought  to  condign  punishment ;  I 
have  thought  proper,  by  and  with  the  advice  of 
Council,  to  issue  this  my  proclamation,  hereby  re 
questing  all  officers,  both  civil  and  military,  within 
this  Commonwealth,  and  other  subjects  thereof,  to 
be  aiding  and  assisting  in  this  business,  as  they  ten 
der  the  welfare  of  their  country,  and  as  they  shall 
answer  the  contrary  at  their  peril. 

"  Given  under  my  hand,  this  8th  day  of  July,  in 
the  2d  year  of  the  commonwealth,  Annoque  Do- 
mini  1777.  «  P.  HENRY." 

At  the  October  session,  1777,  the  Assembly 
yielded  to  the  advice  of  the  Governor  and  imposed 


GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     539 

a  tax  for  the  redemption  of  the  paper  money  issued 
by  the  State.1  It  had  the  effect  of  staying  in  a 
measure  the  catastrophe  to  the  currency  which  was 
surely  approaching. 

On  November  22, 1777,  Congress  recommended  to 
the  several  legislatures  that  they  fix  the  prices  of 
provisions,  and  thus  prevent  the  extortion  which  was 
so  injurious  to  the  service.  Accordingly  the  Vir 
ginia  Assembly  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  seizure 
of  all  provisions  in  excess  of  what  was  needed  for' 
the  consumption  of  families,  the  value  to  be  fixed 
by  three  freeholders.2 

The  Governor  lost  no  time  in  forwarding  the  new 
troops  raised  for  the  Continental  army.  On  the  day 
he  entered  upon  his  second  term,  he  gave  the  neces 
sary  orders  for  raising  the  ten  companies  of  artillery 
voted  by  the  Assembly,  and  on  July  8,  he  ordered 
Colonel  George  Gibson  to  march  with  the  first  bat 
talion  of  fresh  troops,  which  was  now  ready.  This 
gallant  officer  had  been  sent  in  May,  1776,  by  Gen 
eral  Charles  Lee,  to  New  Orleans,  and  had  obtained 
from  the  Spanish  Governor  there  twelve  Imndred 
pounds  of  powder,  which  his  associate,  Captain 
William  Lynn,  had  safely  conveyed  up  the  rivers  to 
Wheeling,  while  he  had  returned  by  the  ocean.  The 
appointment  of  colonel  was  now  given  him  as  a  re 
ward  for  this  service.3 

The  Executive  Journal,  and  correspondence  of 
the  Governor  during  his  second  term,  attest  his  un 
tiring  energy  in  keeping  up  the  State's  quota  of  Con 
tinental  troops.  In  this  the  Executive  was  heartily 

1  Hening:  Statutes  at  Large,  ix.,  349. 

2  Ibid.,  ix.,  386. 

3  House  Journal  for  June  28,  1777,  p.  147. 


540  PATRICK   HENRY. 

supported  by  the  Legislature,  which  passed  acts 
at  its  several  sessions  for  the  purpose  of  recruiting 
by  volunteers,  or  by  drafts.  At  the  May  session, 
1778,  it  was  determined  to  aid  in  the  effort  to 
increase  the  Continental  army,  so  as  to  enable 
Washington  to  make  a  decisive  campaign,  and 
it  was  ordered  that  2,000  men  be  raised,  in  ad 
dition  to  the  State's  quota,  to  serve  till  January 
1,  1779.1  Besides  this,  forces  were  raised  for  the 
defence  of  the  State  on  its  eastern  and  western 
borders. 

In  August,  1777,  while  the  Governor  was  in 
Hanover,  doubtless  making  arrangements  for  his 
approaching  marriage,  the  British  fleet  appeared 
off  the  Virginia  coast  with  Howe's  army  aboard. 
A  messenger  was  at  once  despatched  to  recall  the 
Governor  to  Williamsburg,  and  sixty-four  com 
panies  of  militia  were  immediately  called  out  and 
placed  under  the  command  of  General  Thomas 
Nelson.  The  call  was  responded  to  with  alacrity. 
Among  the  troops  which  offered  was  a  company 
composed  of  the  students  at  William  and  Mary 
College,  commanded  by  Rev.  James  Madison,2  presi 
dent  of  the  college  and  afterward  the  first  bishop 
of  Virginia. 

While  the  destination  of  the  fleet  was  in  doubt, 
the  Governor  took  every  precaution  to  protect  the 
coast,  and  ordered  the  arrest  and  removal  from  the 
threatened  portion  of  the  State  of  all  persons  sus 
pected  of  disaffection  to  the  American  cause.  This 
was  approved  by  the  next  Assembly,  but  was  con 
sidered  such  a  stretch  of  authority  that  a  special 

1  Hening :  Statutes  at  Large,  ix.,  445. 

2  Executive  Journal  for  August  18,  1777,  p.  61. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     541 

act  was  passed  to  indemnify  the  Governor  and 
Council  therefor.1 

The  fleet,  after  entering  the  bay,  steered  north 
ward  without  touching  on  Virginia  soil,  and  the 
British  forces  landed  at  the  Head  of  Elk  prepara 
tory  to  their  march  upon  Philadelphia.  In  obe 
dience  to  a  call  from  Congress,  a  third  part  of  the 
militia  of  Prince  William,  Loudon,  Fairfax,  Cul- 
pepper,  Fauquier,  Berkeley,  Dun  more,2  and  Fred 
erick  Counties  were  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Fred- 
ricktown,  Md.,  and  report  to  General  Washington, 
and  they  aided  him  in  his  subsequent  engagements 
with  Howe. 

The  efforts  of  Governor  Henry  to  aid  General 
Washington  in  the  campaign  which  followed  the 
landing  of  the  British,  and  the  quality  of  his  pa 
triotism,  cannot  be  better  illustrated  than  in  the 
following  letter : 

"WILLIAMSBURG,  October  29,  1777. 

"  SIR  :  The  Regiment  of  Artillery  commanded  by 
Colonel  Charles  Harrison  is  yet  in  this  State.  They 
have  been  detained  here,  under  leave  of  Congress,  to 
do  Duty  at  Portsmouth  and  York,  near  which 
Places  the  Enemy's  Ships  of  War  have  been  long 
hovering.  At  present,  seven  Men  of  War  &  three 
large  Transports  or  provision  Vessels,  are  in  and 
near  Hampton  Road.  The  Troops  of  the  State 
are  so  few,  that  the  Defence  of  our  maritime 
places  will  be  precarious  in  the  absence  of  that 
Regiment. 

"  Militia  must  in  that  Case  be  chiefly  depended  on, 
and  their  Skill  in  managing  Cannon  promises  noth 
ing  effectual.  But,  reflecting  on  the  necessity  there 

1  Hening :  Statutes  at  Large,  ix. ,  373.          2  Afterward  Shennadoah. 


542  PATRICK  HENRY. 

may  be  of  re-enforcing  the  army  under  your  Excel 
lency's  Command,  I  trouble  you  with  this,  entreat 
ing  you  will  be  pleased  to  tell  me  whether  that 
Regiment  will  be  a  desirable  aid  to  you. 

"  If  it  is,  perhaps  Inoculation  ought  to  be  set  about 
immediately. 

"  With  the  highest  Regard  I  am, 

"  Sir, 
"  Your  mo.  obd*  Hble  SeiV, 

"  P.  HENEY. 

"  To  His  Excellency,  GENERAL  WASHINGTON,  at  Head-Quarters. 
"  Per  Express." 

The  nobility  of  this  letter  was  equalled  by  the 
following  reply  received  from  Washington.  The 
two  letters  show  that  the  friendship  of  these  men 
was  that  of  kindred  spirits. 

"  WHITEMARSH,  13  Novr.  1777. 

"  DEAE  SIE  :  I  shall  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  a 
letter  of  mine,  which  accompanies  this,  and  of  the 
same  date,1  for  a  general  account  of  our  situation 
and  wants.  The  design  of  this  is  only  to  inform 
you,  and  with  great  truth  I  can  do  it,  strange  as  it 
may  seem,  that  the  army  which  I  have  had  under 
my  immediate  command,  has  not,  at  any  one  time 
since  General  Howe's  landing  at  the  Head  of  Elk, 
been  equal  in  point  of  numbers  to  his.  In  ascer 
taining  this,  I  do  not  confine  myself  to  Continental 
troops,  but  comprehend  militia.  The  disaffected 
and  lukewarm  in  this  state,  in  whom  unhappily  it 
too  much  abounds,  taking  advantage  of  the  distrac 
tion  in  the  government,  prevented  those  vigorous 
exertions,  which  an  invaded  State  ought  to  have 
yielded  ;  and  the  short  term,  for  which  their  militia 
was  drawn  out,  expiring  before  others  could  be  got 
in,  and  before  the  Maryland  militia  (which,  by  the 

1  In  that  letter  lie  declined  Colonel  Harrison's  regiment  for  the  present. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     543 

by,  were  few  in  number,  and  did  not  join  till  after 
the  battle  of  Brandywine)  came  up,  our  numbers 
kept  nearly  at  a  stand,  and  I  was  left  to  fight  two 
battles,  in  order  if  possible  to  save  Philadelphia, 
with  less  numbers  than  composed  the  army  of  my 
antagonist,  whilst  the  world  has  given  us  at  least 
double.  This  impression,  though  mortifying  in 
some  points  of  view,  I  have  been  obliged  to  encour 
age,  because,  next  to  being  strong  it  is  best  to  be 
thought  so  by  the  enemy ;  and  to  this  cause  prin 
cipally  I  think  is  to  be  attributed  the  slow  move 
ments  of  General  Howe. 

"  How  different  the  case  in  the  northern  depart 
ment  !  There  the  States  of  New  York  and  New 
England  resolving  to  crush  Burgoyne,  continued 
pouring  in  their  troops,  till  the  surrender  of  that 
army,  at  which  time  not  less  than  fourteen  thousand 
militia,  as  I  have  been  informed,  were  actually  in 
General  Gates's  camp,  and  those  composed,  for  the 
most  part,  of  the  best  yeomanry  in  the  country,  well 
armed,  and  in  many  instances  supplied  with  provi 
sions  of  their  own  carrying.  Had  the  same  spirit 
pervaded  the  people  of  this  and  the  neighboring 
States,  we  might  before  this  time  have  had  General 
Howe  nearly  in  the  situation  of  General  Burgoyne, 
with  this  difference,  that  the  former  would  never 
have  been  out  of  reach  of  his  ships,  whilst  the  lat 
ter  increased  his  danger  every  step  he  took,  having 
but  one  retreat  in  case  of  a  disaster,  and  that  blocked 
up  by  a  respectable  force. 

"  My  own  difficulties,  in  the  course  of  the  cam 
paign,  have  been  not  a  little  increased  by  the  extra 
aid  of  Continental  troops,  which  the  gloomy  pros 
pects  of  our  affairs  in  the  north,  immediately  after 
the  reduction  of  Ticonderoga,  induced  me  to  spare 
from  this  army.  But  it  is  to  be  hoped,  that  all 
will  yet  end  well.  If  the  cause  is  advanced,  indif 
ferent  it  is  to  me  where  or  in  what  quarter  it  hap- 


544  PATRICK   HENRY. 

pens.  The  winter  season,  with  the  aid  of  our 
neighbours,  may  possibly  bring  some  important 
event  to  pass. 

"  I  am,  sincerely  and  respectfully, 
"  dear  Sir,  <fec. 

"  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

u  To  PATRICK  HENRY,  ESQ., 

Governor  of  Virginia." 

At  the  very  time  that  Washington  was  writing 
this  letter  rejoicing  in  the  victory  of  Gates  over 
Burgoyne,  for  the  accomplishment  of  which  he  had 
reduced  his  own  forces  and  prevented  his  army  from 
gaining  a  victory  over  Howe,  General  Gates  was 
plotting  to  supersede  him  as  commander-in-chief. 
One  of  his  accomplices  undertook  the  task  of  win 
ning  Governor  Henry  to  their  cause,  and  sounded 
him  by  the  following  letter  sent  without  a  signa 
ture. 

"  YORKTOWN,  January  12th,  1778. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  The  common  danger  of  our  country 
first  brought  you  and  me  together.  I  recollect  with 
pleasure  the  influence  of  your  conversation  and  elo 
quence  upon  the  opinions  of  this  country,  in  the 
.beginning  of  the  present  controversy.  You  first 
taught  us  to  shake  off  our  idolatrous  attachment  to 
royalty,  and  to  oppose  its  encroachments  upon  our 
liberties,  with  our  very  lives.  By  these  means  you 
saved  us  from  ruin.  The  independence  of  America 
is  the  offspring  of  that  liberal  spirit  of  thinking  & 
acting  which  followed  the  destruction  of  the  scep 
tres  of  kings,  and  the  mighty  power  of  Great 
Britain. 

"  But,  sir,  we  have  only  passed  the  Ked  Sea.  A 
dreary  wilderness  is  still  before  us,  and  unless  a 
Moses  or  a  Joshua  are  raised  up  in  our  behalf,  we 
must  perish  before  we  reach  the  promised  land.  We 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     545 

have  nothing  to  fear  from  our  enemies  on  the  way. 
General  Howe,  it  is  true  has  taken  Philadelphia ; 
but  he  has  only  changed  his  prison.  His  dominions 
are  bounded  on  all  sides,  by  his  out-sentries.  Amer 
ica  can  only  be  undone  by  herself.  She  looks  up 
to  her  councils  and  arms  for  protection;  but 
alas  !  what  are  they  ?  Her  representation  in  con 
gress  dwindled  to  only  twenty-one  members — her 
Adams — her  Wilson — her  Henry  are  no  more 
among  them.  Her  councils  weak,  and  partial  reme 
dies  applied  constantly  for  universal  diseases.  Her 
army,  what  is  it  ?  a  major-general  belonging  to  it, 
called  it  a  few  days  ago,  in  nay  hearing,  a  mob. 
Discipline  unknown  or  wholly  neglected.  The 
quarter-master's  and  comissary^s  departments  filled 
with  idleness,  ignorance,  and  peculation  ;  our  hospi 
tals  crowded  with  six  thousand  sick,  but  half  pro- 
provided  with  necessaries  or  accommodations,  and 
more  dying  in  them  in  one  month,  than  perished  in 
the  field  during  the  whole  of  the  last  campaign. 
The  money  depreciating,  without  any  effectual 
measure  being  taken  to  raise  it ;  the  country  dis 
tracted  with  the  Don  Quixote  attempts  to  regu 
late  the  price  of  provisions ;  an  artificial  famine 
created  by  it,  and  a  real  one  dreaded  from  it ;  the 
spirit  of  the  people  failing  through  a  more  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  causes  of  our  misfortunes; 
many  submitting  to  General  Howe ;  and  more  wish 
ing  to  do  it,  only  to  avoid  the  calamities  which 
threaten  our  country.  But  is  our  case  desperate  ? 
by  no  means.  We  have  wisdom,  virtue,  and 
strength  enough  to  save  us,  if  they  could  be  called 
into  action.  The  northern  army  has  shown  us  what 
Americans  are  capable  of  doing,  with  a  general  at 
their  head.  The  spirit  of  the  southern  army  is  no 
way  inferior  to  the  spirit  of  the  northern.  A 
Gates,  a  Lee,  or  a  Conway,  would  in  a  few  weeks 
render  them  an  irresistible  body  of  men.  The  last 

35 


546  PATRICK   HENRY. 

-of  the  above  officers  has  accepted  of  the  new  office 
of  inspector-general  of  our  army,  in  order  to  reform 
abuses ;  but  the  remedy  is  only  a  palliative  one.  In 
one  of  his  letters  to  a  friend,  he  says,  '  a  great  and 
good  God  hath  decreed  America  to  be  free — or  the 
.  .  .  and  weak  counsellors  would  have  ruined 
her  long  ago.  You  may  rest  assured  of  each  of  the 
facts  related  in  this  letter.  The  author  of  it  is  one 
of  your  Philadelphia  friends.  A  hint  of  his  name, 
if  found  out  by  the  handwriting,  must  not  be  men 
tioned  to  your  most  intimate  friend.  Even  the  let 
ter  must  be  thrown  in  the  fire.  But  some  of  its 
contents  ought  to  be  made  public,  in  order  to 
awaken,  enlighten,  and  alarm  our  country.  I  rely 
upon  your  prudence,  and  am  dear  sir,  with  my 
usual  attachment  to  you  and  to  our  beloved  inde 
pendence,  yours  sincerely. 

"  His  Excellency  P.  HENRY." 

The  writer  of  this  insidious  letter  had  utterly 
mistaken  the  man  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  He 
was  impervious  to  flattery,  and  his  faith  in  Wash 
ington,  so  far  from  being  shaken,  had  ever  con 
tinued  to  strengthen.  He  at  once  enclosed  the  let 
ter  to  General  Washington  with  the  following  : 

"  WILLIAMSBURG,  February  20,  1778. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  You  will  no  doubt,  be  surprised  at 
seeing  the  enclosed  letter,  in  which  the  encomiums 
bestowed  on  me  are  as  undeserved,  as  the  censures 
aimed  at  you  are  unjust.  I  am  sorry  there  should 
be  one  man  who  counts  himself  my  friend  who  is 
not  yours. 

u  Perhaps  I  give  you  needless  trouble  in  handing 
you  this  paper.  The  writer  of  it  may  be  too  insig 
nificant  to  deserve  any  notice.  If  I  knew  this  to  be 
the  case,  I  should  not  have  intruded  on  your  time, 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     547 

which  is  so  precious.  But  there  may  possibly  be 
some  scheme  or  party  forming  to  your  prejudice. 
The  enclosed  leads  to  such  a  suspicion.  Believe  me, 
sir,  I  have  too  high  a  sense  of  the  obligations  Amer 
ica  has  to  you,  to  abet  or  countenance  so  unworthy 
a  proceeding.  The  most  exalted  merit  hath  ever 
been  found  to  attract  envy.  But  I  please  myself 
with  the  hope,  that  the  same  fortitude  and  greatness 
of  mind  which  have  hitherto  braved  all  the  difficul 
ties  and  dangers  inseparable  from  your  station,  will 
rise  superior  to  every  attempt  of  the  envious  parti 
san. 

u  I  really  cannot  tell  who  is  the  writer  of  this  let 
ter,  which  not  a  little  perplexes  me.  The  hand 
writing  is  altogether  strange  to  me. 

"  To  give  you  the  trouble  of  this  gives  me  pain. 
It  would  suit  my  inclination  better  to  give  you  some 
assistance  in  the  great  business  of  the  war.  But  I 
will  not  conceal  any  thing  from  you  by  which  you 
may  be  affected ;  for  I  really  think  your  personal 
welfare  and  the  happiness  of  America  are  intimately 
connected.  I  beg  you  will  be  assured  of  that  high 
regard  and  esteem,  with  which  I  am,  dear  sir,  your 
affectionate  friend  and  very  humble  servant, 

"P.  HENRY. 

"His  Excellency  GENERAL  WASHINGTON." 

Not  getting  a  reply  promptly  to  this  letter,  and 
receiving  some  information  which  increased  his  anx 
iety,  Governor  Henry  wrote  again  to  General 
Washington  as  follows  : 

"WILLIAMSBURG,  March  5th,  1778. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  By  an  express  which  Colonel  Finnie 
sent  to  camp,  I  enclosed  you  an  anonymous  letter, 
which  I  hope  got  safe  to  hand.  I  am  anxious  to 
hear  something  that  will  serve  to  explain  the  strange 
affair,  which  I  am  now  informed  is  taken  up  re- 


548  PATRICK  HENRY. 

specting  you.  Mr.  Custis  lias  just  paid  us  a  visit, 
and  by  him  I  learn  sundry  particulars  concerning 
General  Mifflin,  that  much  surprised  me.  It  is  very 
hard  to  trace  the  schemes  and  windings  of  the  ene 
mies  to  America.  I  really  thought  that  man  its 
friend  :  however,  I  am  too  far  from  him  to  judge  of 
his  present  temper. 

"  While  you  face  the  armed  enemies  of  our  lib 
erty  in  the  field,  and  by  the  favour  of  Grod,  have 
been  kept  unhurt,  I  trust  your  country  will  never 
harbour  in  her  bosom  the  miscreant  who  would  ruin 
her  best  supporter.  I  wish  not  to  flatter ;  but  when 
arts,  unworthy  honest  men,  are  used  to  defame  and 
traduce  you,  I  think  it  not  amiss,  but  a  duty,  to  as 
sure  you  of  that  estimation  in  which  the  public  hold 
you.  Not  that  I  think  that  any  testimony  I  can 
bear  is  necessary  for  your  support,  or  private  satis 
faction  ;  for  a  bare  recollection  of  what  is  past  must 
give  you  sufficient  pleasure  in  every  circumstance  of 
life.  But  I  cannot  help  assuring  you  on  this  occa 
sion,  of  tbe  high  sense  of  gratitude  which  all  ranks 
of  men  in  this  your  native  country  bear  to  you. 
It  will  give  me  sincerest  pleasure  to  manifest  my  re- 

fards,  and  render  my  best  services  to  you  or  yours, 
do  not  like  to  make  a  parade  of  these  things,  and 
I  know  that  you  are  not  fond  of  it,  however  I  hope 
the  occasion  will  plead  my  excuse. 

"The  assembly  have,  at  length,  empowered  the 
executive  here,  to  provide  the  Virginia  troops  serv 
ing  with  you  with  clothes,  &c.  I  am  making  pro 
vision  accordingly,  and  hope  to  do  something 
towards  it.  Every  possible  assistance  from  gov 
ernment  is  afforded  the  commissary  of  provisions, 
whose  department  has  not  been  attended  to.  It 
was  taken  up  by  me  too  late  to  do  much.  In 
deed,  the  load  of  business  devolved  on  me  is  too 
great  to  be  managed  well.  A  French  ship,  mount 
ing  thirty  guns,  that  has  been  long  chased  by  Eng- 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     549 

lish  cruisers  has  got  into  Carolina,  as  I  hear  last 
night. 

"  Wishing  you  all  possible  felicity,  I  am,  my  dear 
Sir, 

"  Your  very  affectionate  friend, 

"  and  very  humble  servant, 

"P.  HENRY. 

u  His  Excellency  GENERAL  WASHINGTON." 

Before  getting  this  last  letter  Washington  wrote 
in  reply  to  the  previous  one. 

"  VALLEY  FORGE,  27  March,  1778. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  About  eight  days  past  I  was  hon 
ored  with  vour  favor  of  the  20th  ultimo.  Your 
friendship,  sir,  in  transmitting  to  me  the  anonymous 
letter  you  had  received,  lays  me  under  the  most 
grateful  obligations ;  and  if  my  acknowledgments 
can  be  due  for  anything  more,  it  is  for  the  polite 
and  delicate  terms  in  which  you  have  been  pleased 
to  communicate  the  matter. 

"  I  have  ever  been  happy  in  supposing  that  I  had 
a  place  in  your  esteem,  and  the  proof  of  it  you  have 
afforded  on  this  occasion  makes  me  peculiarly  so. 
The  favorable  light  in  which  you  hold  me  is  truly 
flattering ;  but  I  should  feel  much  regret,  if  I  thought 
the  happiness  of  America  so  intimately  connected 
with  my  personal  welfare,  as  you  so  obligingly  seem 
to  consider  it.  All  I  can  say  is,  that  she  has  ever- 
had,  and  I  trust  she  ever  will  have,  my  honest  exer 
tions  to  promote  her  interest.  I  cannot  hope  that 
my  services  have  been  the  best ;  but  my  heart  tells 
me  they  have  been  the  best  that  I  could  render. 

"  That  I  may  have  erred  in  using  the  means  in  rny 
power  for  accomplishing  the  objects  of  the  arduous, 
exalted  station  with  which  I  am  honored,  I  cannot 
doubt ;  nor  do  I  wish  my  conduct  to  be  exempted 
from  reprehension  farther  than  it  may  deserve.  Er- 


550  PATRICK  HENRY. 

ror  is  the  portion  of  humanity,  and  to  censure  it, 
whether  committed  by  this  or  that  public  character, 
is  the  prerogative  of  freemen.  However,  being  inti 
mately  acquainted  with  the  man  I  conceive  to  be  the 
author  of  the  letter  transmitted,  and  having  always 
received  from  him  the  strongest  professions  of  at 
tachment  and  regard,  I  am  constrained  to  consider 
him  as  not  possessing,  at  least,  a  great  degree  of 
candor  and  sincerity,  though  his  views  in  addressing 
you  should  have  been  the  result  of  conviction,  and 
founded  in  motives  of  public  good.  This  is  not  the 
only  secret,  insidious  attempt,  that  has  been  made 
to  wound  my  reputation.  There  have  been  others 
equally  base,  cruel  and  ungenerous,  because  con 
ducted  with  as  little  frankness,  and  proceeding  from 
views,  perhaps,  as  personally  interested.  I  am,  dear 
sir  with  great  esteem  and  regard,  your  much  obliged 
friend,  &c. 

"  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

"  To  His  Excellency  P.  HENRY,  ESQ. 

"  Governor  of  Virginia." 

Before  closing  this  the  second  letter  of  Governor 
Henry  was  handed  to  Washington,  and  he  was  more 
deeply  touched  by  it  even  than  by  the  first.  With 
far  less  restraint  he  at  once  wrote  as  follows  in  re- 


"CAMP,  28th  March,  1778. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  Just  as  I  was  about  to  close  my  let 
ter  of  yesterday,  your  favor  of  the  5th  instant  came 
to  hand.  I  can  only  thank  you  again,  in  language 
of  the  most  undissembled  gratitude,  for  your  friend 
ship,  and  assure  you,  that  the  indulgent  disposition, 
which  Virginia  in  particular,  and  the  States  in 
general,  entertain  towards  me,  gives  me  the  most 
sensible  pleasure.  The  approbation  of  my  country 
is  what  I  wish  ;  and  as  far  as  my  abilities  and  op 
portunities  will  permit,  I  hope  I  shall  endeavour  to 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     551 

deserve  it.  It  is  the  highest  reward  to  a  feeling 
mind ;  and  happy  are  they  who  so  conduct  them 
selves  as  to  merit  it. 

"The  anonymous  letter,  with  which  you  were 
pleased  to  favor  me,  was  written  by  Dr.  Rush,  so  far 
as  I  can  judge  from  a  similitude  of  hands.  This  man 
has  been  elaborate  and  studied  in  his  professions  of 
regard  for  me ;  and  long  since  the  letter  to  you. 
My  caution  to  avoid  any  thing,  which  could  injure 
the  service,  prevented  me  from  communicating,  but 
to  a  very  few  of  my  friends,  the  intrigues  of  a  fac 
tion,  which  I  know  was  formed  against  me,  since  it 
might  serve  to  publish  our  internal  dissensions  ;  but 
their  own  restless  zeal  to  advance,  their  views  has 
too  clearly  betrayed  them,  and  make  concealment 
on  my  part  fruitless.  I  cannot  precisely  mark  the 
extent  of  their  views,  but  it  appeared  in  general, 
that  General  Gates  was  to  be  exalted  on  the  ruin 
of  my  reputation  and  influence.  This  I  am  author 
ized  to  say,  from  undeniable  facts  in  my  own  pos 
session,  from  publications,  the  evident  scope  of 
which  could  not  be  mistaken,  and  from  private  de 
tractions  industriously  circulated.  General  Mifflin, 
it  is  commonly  supposed,  bore  the  second,  part  in 
the  cabal ;  and  General  Conway,  I  know,  was  a 
very  active  and  malignant  partisan ;  but  I  have 

food    reasons   to  believe,  that  their   machinations 
ave  recoiled  most  sensibly  upon  themselves.    With 
sentiments  of  great  esteem  and  regard,  I  am,  dear 
Sir,  your  affectionate  humble  servant, 

"  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

*'  His  Excellency  PATRICK  HENRY,  ESQ. 

"  Governor  of  Virginia," 

The  Conway  Cabal,  as  it  was  called,  died  upon 
exposure,  leaving  Washington  more  strongly  en 
trenched  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrvmen  than  be 
fore.  Washington  never  forgot  this  proof  of 


552  PATRICK   HENRY. 

friendship  and  esteem  on  the  part  of  Governor 
Henry.  It  came  at  a  time  when  it  was  impossible 
to  know  the  extent  of  the  plot  which  had  been 
formed.  But  that  besides  several  generals  it  em 
braced  some  of  the  leading  members  of  Congress, 
was  believed  at  the  time,  and  even  the  two  Lees 
from  Virginia  were  thought  to  be  implicated. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

GOVEBNOB  OF  VIBGINI A.— SECOND  TEBM.— 1778. 

Distressing  Condition  of  the  Army. — Exertions  of  Governor  Henry 
to  Believe  It. — His  Letter  to  Congress. — Alarming  Letter  from 
General  Washington.— Governor  Henry's  Efficient  Action  Be 
lieves  the  Army  at  Valley  Forge,  and  Prevents  It  from  Disband 
ing.— Important  Actions  of  Congress  in  Aid  of  the  Army. 
— Arrival  of  the  French  Minister  and  British  Commissioners. — 
Attempt  to  Defeat  the  French  Treaty. — Strong  Feeling  of  Gover 
nor  Henry.— Letter  to  Bichard  Henry  Lee.— Congress  Declines 
the  British  Proposals. — Attempt  of  Commissioners  to  Commu 
nicate  with  Virginia  Foiled.— The  Aid  of  France  Indispensable 
to  American  Success. — Indian  Troubles. — Murder  of  Cornstalk. 
— Action  of  Governor  Henry  in  Consequence.— Betaliation  uy 
the  Indians. — Proposed  Expedition  Against  Detroit. 

DUKINO  the  winter  of  1777-78  the  subsistence  of 
Washington's  army  became  a  question  of  alarming 
importance.  The  failure  of  the  Quartermaster  and 
Commissary  departments,  as  organized  by  Congress, 
to  provide  necessaries  for  the  army  came  near  de 
stroying  it.  Congress  itself  never  appeared  more 
impotent,  nor  its  members  more  neglectful  of  their 
duties,  and  at  its  sittings  at  York,  in  Pennsylvania, 
it  was  often  difficult  to  secure  a  quorum.  In  order 
to  meet  the  emergency,  the  Virginia  Legislature 
at  its  fall  session  gave  the  Governor  power  to  im 
press  the  articles  needed  for  the  Virginia  troops. 
He  went  to  work  so  vigorously  that  he  was  able  to 
send  off  a  large  supply  of  clothing  by  December  6, 
and  to  promise  additional  supplies  in  a  short  time.1 

1  Letter  to  Washington,  December  6,  1777.     Post,  vol.  iii.,  129. 


554  PATRICK  HENRY. 

This  timely  service  was  gratefully  acknowledged  by 
Washington  in  a  letter  of  December  27,  in  which  he 
said  :  "  In  several  of  my  late  letters  I  addressed  you 
on  the  distress  of  the  troops  for  want  of  clothing. 
Your  ready  exertions  to  relieve  them  have  given 
me  the  highest  satisfaction."  He  then  gave  a  dis 
tressing  picture  of  the  continued  wants  of  the  army, 
which  required  continued  exertions. 

But  the  distress  of  the  army  was  not  alone  for 
want  of  clothing,  The  men  were  in  danger  of 
starving  as  well  as  of  freezing.  The  Pennsylvania 
farmers  carried  their  provisions  to  Philadelphia  and 
got  British  gold  in  preference  to  American  paper 
money.1  A  letter  from  F.  L.  Lee  on  behalf  of  the 
Committee  of  Congress  having  the  matter  in  charge, 
apprised  Governor  Henry  of  the  critical  condition 
of  affairs,  and  his  reply  of  January  20,  1778,  shows 
not  only  his  energy  in  meeting  the  demand,  but  his 
fearlessness  in  pointing  out  to  Congress  its  own 
shortcomings.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"WM6BURG,  VIRGA,  Jany.  20th,  1778. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee  Esqr's. 
Letter  for  the  Committee  on  the  Subject  of  pro 
visions  filled  me  with  Concern  &  Astonishment.  I 
applied  to  the  Deputy  Commissary  General  to 
furnish  some  active  persons  for  throwing  an  instant 
Supply  of  Provisions  to  the  Army  to  Answer  the 
present  Exigency.  I  was  told  by  him  that  he  could 
get  none  such  immediately,  but  he  would  write  to 
his  Deputy  to  do  the  Business. 

"  I  thought  this  plan  by  no  means  satisfactory, 
For  in  the  Northwestern  parts  of  this  State  in  that 
Deputy's  Quarter,  I  found,  upon  Enquiry,  that  Eight 

1  Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  iii.,  348. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     555 

or  ten  thousand  Hogs  &  several  thousand  fine 
Beeves  might  have  been  had  very  lately  in  a  few 
Counties  convenient  to  the  Camp.  In  order  there 
fore  to  avoid  blending  my  Transactions  with  the 
Commissary's,  &  to  give  Despatch  &  Efficacy  to  the 
measure,  I  employed  Abraham  Kite,  Thomas  Hite, 
<fe  James  Barbour  Esqrs.  Gentlemen  of  Character,  to 
purchase  instantly  Beef,  or  Pork,  if  Beef  could  not 
be  had,  to  the  amount  of  ten  thousand  pounds,  & 
drive  it  to  Camp  in  the  most  expeditious  manner, 
and  advanced  them  the  Cash.  I  have  also  directed 
Colonel  Simpson  to  seize  two  thousand  Bushels  of 
Salt  on  the  Eastern  Shore,  &  send  it  to  the  Head  of 
Elk  for  the  grand  army,  &  to  reserve  a  thousand 
more  to  answer  further  orders  that  may  become 
necessary. 

"  A  Galley  is  also  ordered  to  carry  600  Bushels 
along  the  Western  Shore  to  Elk  for  the  same  pur 
poses.  In  the  article  of  flour  I  have  not  meddled, 
thinking  from  Mr.  Lee's  Letter  that  it  was  not 
wanting.  By  these  Several  Steps,  the  best  which 
in  the  sudden  Exigency  could  be  taken,  I  hope  a 
temporary  Supply  may  be  obtained. 

"  But  Gentlemen  I  cannot  forbear  some  Reflec 
tions  on  this  Occasion,  which  I  beg  you  will  be 
pleased  to  lay  before  Congress  as  the  Sentiments  of 
the  Executive  Body  of  this  State.  It  is  with  the 
deepest  Concern  that  the  Business  of  Supplying 
Provisions  for  the  grand  army,  is  seen  to  fall  into 
a  State  of  uncertainty  &  Confusion.  And  while 
that  Executive  hath  been  more  than  once  called 
upon  to  make  up  for  Deficiencys  in  that  Depart 
ment,  no  Reform  is  seen  to  take  place.  Altho'  a 
great  Abundance  of  Provisions  might  have  been 
procured  from  Virginia;  yet  no  Animadversions 
that  I  know  of,  have  been  made  upon  the  Conduct 
of  those  whose  Business  it  was  to  forward  it  to  the 
Army.  In  this  Situation  of  things  Intelligence  is 


556  PATRICK  HENRY. 

given  to  me  that  from  this  State  it  is  expected  most 
of  the  Supplies  must  be  drawn.  What  may  be  in 
ferred  from  this,  I  do  not  well  know.  If  any  kind 
of  Superintendance  or  Controul  over  the  Com- 
missariate  is  meant,  Congress  will  please  to  recollect 
that  the  Gentlemen  in  that  Office  are  not  amenable 
to  me.  If  it  is  expected  that  friendly  Assistance 
should  be  given,  I  am  happy  in  saying  this  has 
been  anticipated.  Large  loans  of  Flour,  Meat  and 
Salt  have  been  made  from  time  to  time  to  great 
amount,  nor  will  they  be  withheld  but  from  the 
most  absolute  necessity.  But  I  earnestly  desire  that 
it  may  be  understood  and  remembered,  once  for  all, 
that  the  Executive  power  here  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  Commissary's  Business.  That  it  holds  it 
self  guiltless  of  all  the  mischiefs  which  in  future 
may  arise  from  Delinquency  in  that  office. 

"  It  will  indeed  be  unworthy  the  character  of  a 
Zealous  American  to  entrench  himself  within  the 
strict  line  of  Official  duty,  and  there  quietly  behold 
the  starving  and  dispersion  of  the  American  Army. 
The  Genius  of  this  Country  is  not  of  that  Cast. 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  avoid  any  Labour  which  may 
serve  the  general  Interest  and  which  cannot  be 
executed  better  by  others.  But  I  have  the  Mortifi 
cation  to  know  that  the  present  business  I  have 
directed  will  be  executed  with  great  Loss  to  the 
Public.  The  pressing  occasion  puts  the  price  of 
meat  &c.  in  the  power  of  wicked,  avaricious  and 
disaffected  men.  The  value  of  money  will  be  more 
and  more  lessened,  the  means  of  supporting  pub 
lic  Credit  counteracted  and  defeated.  I  will  not 
enumerate  further  the  Evils  which  must  follow 
from  suffering  Business  of  this  vast  import  to  re 
main  in  the  Channel  where  it  is  now  going.  Let  it 
suffice  to  say  that  this  Country  abounds  with  the  pro 
visions  for  which  the  army  is  said  to  be  almost  starv 
ing,  particularly  that  part  of  it  nearest  the  Camp. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     557 

"  The  Executive  has  no  authority  over  or  Connex 
ion  with  the  Commissariate.  The  temporary  supply 
ordered  to  Camp  concludes  the  Interference  which 
is  made  in  that  Business,  &  is  kept  as  a  distinct  and 
Separate  Transaction.  But  if  in  the  Course  of  fu 
ture  events  it  should  become  at  any  time  necessary 
that  the  Commissariate  should  receive  any  aid  with 
in  the  line  of  the  Executive  power  of  this  State, 
it  will  be  afforded  with  the  greatest  pleasure — yet 
in  such  a  case  it  is  much  to  be  wished  that  as 
early  notice  as  possible  may  be  given  of  such  neces 
sity. 

"The  pain  which  Government  feels  on  this 
occasion,  &  which  is  generally  diffused  throughout 
this  State,  for  the  melancholy,  the  perilous  situation 
of  the  American  Army  will  be  relieved  when  a 
Reform  takes  place  in  that  Department,  from  mis 
management  in  which  have  flowed  Evils  threatening 
the  existence  of  American  Liberty. 

"  I  beg  leave  Gentlemen  to  apologize  for  the 
Freedom  of  this  Letter.  Congress  will  please  to  be 
assured  of  the  most  perfect  Regard  of  every  mem 
ber  of  the  Executive  of  Virginia.  But  that  Body 
would  be  wanting  in  the  Duty  they  owe  to  the 
great  Council  of  America  &  to  their  Country,  if  they 
concealed  any  of  their  Sentiments  on  a  Subject  so 
alarming  as  the  present.  The  Honor  and  Credit  of 
that  great  Council  are  conceived  to  be  deeply  con 
cerned  in  rectifying  what  is  wrong  in  these  matters, 
and  nothing  but  the  highest  Regard  &  most  anxious 
Care  to  preserve  that  Honor  from  aspersion,  should 
extort  these  painful  observations  from  me. 

"  I  pray  for  the  prosperity  &  Happiness  of  Con 
gress  as  the  Guardians  of  America,  &  with  the 
greatest  Esteem 

"  I  am  Gentlemen, 

"  Your  very  Humble  &  most  obedt.  Servant, 

"P.  HENRY." 


558  PATRICK   HENRY. 

The  supplies  forwarded  from  Virginia  were  soon 
exhausted,  and  on  February  19,  General  Washing 
ton  wrote  Governor  Henry,  giving  an  alarming  ac 
count  of  his  condition.  He  said,  "  For  several  days 
past  we  have  experienced  little  less  than  a  famine 
in  camp,  and  have  had  much  cause  to  dread  a  gen 
eral  mutiny  and  dispersion.  Our  future  prospects 
are,  if  possible,  still  worse.  The  magazines  laid  up, 
so  far  as  my  information  reaches,  are  insignificant, 
totally  incompetent  to  our  necessities,  and  from 
every  appearance  there  has  been  heretofore  so 
astonishing  a  deficiency  in  providing,  that  unless 
the  most  vigorous  and  effectual  measures  are  at 
once  everywhere  adopted,  the  language  is  not  too 
strong  to  declare  that  we  shall  not  be  able  to  make 
another  campaign."  But  Washington  knew  well 
that,  so  far  as  it  depended  on  the  Governor  of  Vir 
ginia,  this  ignominious  result  would  never  be  per 
mitted.  He  added :  "  I  address  myself  to  you ; 
convinced  that  our  alarming  distresses  will  engage 
your  most  serious  consideration,  and  that  the  full 
force  of  that  zeal  and  vigour  you  have  manifested 
upon  every  other  occasion,  will  now  operate  for  our 
relief,  in  a  matter  that  so  nearly  affects  the  very 
existence  of  our  contest." 

This  letter  caused  Governor  Henry  again  to  exert 
his  utmost  energy  to  sustain  Washington's  army. 
He  at  once,  in  accordance  with  the  General's  sug 
gestion,  issued  his  proclamation  informing  the 
people  of  the  needs  of  the  army,  and  urging  them 
immediately  to  put  up  and  feed  as  many  of  their 
cattle  as  could  be  spared,  that  they  might  be  driven 
to  the  army  in  May,  June,  and  July.1 

1  Executive  Journal  for  1777-8,  p.  223. 


GOVERNOR  OF   VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     559 

But  he  did  not  stop  with  this.  He  adopted  meas 
ures  for  instant  relief.  Realizing  the  utter  inefficiency 
of  the  purchasing  agent  appointed  by  Congress,  he 
selected  John  Hawkins,  a  man  in  every  way  fitted 
for  the  business,  and  by  his  personal  influence  in 
duced  him  to  accept  the  position,  for  which  he  sup 
plied  him  with  money,  and  then  reported  his  action 
to  Congress  for  their  approval.  Mr.  Hawkins  was 
ordered  by  him,  in  the  meantime,  u  to  engage  and  for 
ward  with  the  utmost  despatch  to  the  army,  as  much 
beef  and  bacon  as  their  wants  may  require."  The 
following  letter  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  in  Congress, 
shows  to  what  a  pitch  Governor  Henry  was  aroused. 

"  WMSBURGTT,    Apl  7th    1778. 

"  Your  letter  from  Belleview  came  to  hand,  my 
dear  sir,  by  the  last  post,  &  I  assure  you  I  wish  all 
your  letters  may  be  as  long.  As  usual  I  am  in 
great  hurry,  &  seize  a  moment  by  this  Messenger  to 
tell  you  that  the  necessity  of  adopting  vigorous 
measures  in  the  Comissariate  induced  me  to  appoint 
Hawkins,  over  whom  I  exerted  all  my  personal  In 
fluence,  &  with  great  difficulty  got  him  to  under 
take  the  Business.  He  has  given  one-half  his 
salary,  which  appears  at  first  view  large,  to  an  able 
hand  (Rd.  Morris)  who  is  a  fine  accountant  &  man 
of  Fortune.  I  am  really  shocked  at  the  manage 
ment  of  Congress  in  this  .Department.  John  Moore's 
appointment  gave  me  the  most  painful  feelings. 
Good  God  !  Our  Fate  committed  to  a  man  utterly 
unable  to  perform  the  task  assigned  him  !  Raw, 
inexperienced,  without  weight,  consequence  or  ac 
quaintance  with  men  or  business;  called  into  action 
at  a  time  when  distinguished  talent  only  can  save 
an  army  from  perishing.  I  tell  you,  &>  I  grieve  at 
it,  Congress  will  lose  the  respect  due but  I 


560  PATRICK  HENRY. 

forbear.  Tis  my  business  to  exert  all  my  powers 
for  the  Common  Good.  I  must  not  be  depended  on 
for  anything  in  that  line  if  Hawkins  is  rejected  by 
congress.  If  he  is  continued,  pray  supply  him  with 
plenty  of  money.  He  is  really  superior  to  any  one 
in  that  way,  &  of  established  credit  to  any  amount. 
I've  advanced  money,  &  published  repeated 
orders  for  the  march  of  the  new  Levys,  &>  on 
receipt  of  yours  have  addressed  the  continental 
Officers  on  the  subject.  But  there  is  great  Langor 
among  them.  I've  sought  for  good  hands  to  set 
out  on  the  recruiting  Business  you  mention,  &  will 
make  an  effort,  &  by  the  success  of  that  shall  judge 
if  any  thing  can  be  done.  Gilmour,  I  think,  ought 
to  be  dealt  with,  but  the  powers  of  the  Executive 
will  not  reach  so  far  as  the  seizing  of  papers.  Tis 
indeed  too  much  cramped.  However  will  think 
further  on  the  subject.  I  am  really  so  harrassed 
by  the  great  load  of  continental  Business  thrown  on 
me  lately,  that  I  am  ready  to  sink  under  my  Burden, 
&  have  thoughts  of  taking  that  rest  that  will  I  doubt 
soon  become  necessary.  For  my  strength  will  not 
suffice.  You  are  again  traduced  by  a  certain  set  who 
have  drawn  in  others,  who  say  that  you  are  engaged 
in  a  scheme  to  discard  General  Washington.  I  know 
you  too  well  to  suppose  you  attempt  any  thing  not 
evidently  calculated  to  serve  the  cause  of  Whiggism. 
To  dismiss  the  General  would  not  be  so :  ergo  &c. 
But  it  is  your  fate  to  suffer  the  constant  attacks  of 
disguised  Torys  who  take  this  measure  to  lessen  you. 
Farewell  my  dear  Friend.  In  praying  for  your 
welfare  I  pray  for  that  of  my  country,  to  which 
your  life  and  service  are  of  the  last  moment. 
"  I  am  in  great  Haste, 

u  Yr  affte, 

"  P.  HENRY. 


"  To  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

"at  Congress." 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     561 

If  Colonel  Lee  was  indeed  implicated  in  the 
scheme  to  displace  Washington,1  the  latter  portion 
of  this  letter  must  have  been  keenly  felt,  coming, 
as  it  did,  from  his  warm  personal  friend. 

Mr.  Hawkins  entered  upon  the  duties  of  Commis 
sary,  imposed  upon  him  by  Governor  Henry,  but  did 
not  live  very  long  to  demonstrate  the  wisdom  of  his 
appointment.  That  wisdom,  however,  is  strikingly 
attested  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in  a  letter  to  the  Gov 
ernor,  March  27,  1779,  concerning  the  British  pris 
oners  in  Virginia,  in  which  he  writes  :  "  I  am  mis 
taken  if,  for  the  animal  subsistence  of  the  troops 
hitherto,  we  are  not  principally  indebted  to  the 
genius  and  exertions  of  Hawkins,  during  the  very 
short  time  he  lived  after  his  appointment  to  that 
department  by  your  board.  His  eye  immediately 
pervaded  the  State,  it  was  reduced  at  once  to  a 
regular  machine,  to  a  system,  and  the  whole  put 
into  movement  and  animation  by  the  fiat  of  a  com 
prehensive  mind."  2 

Washington  himself,  however,  took  steps  to  apply 
the  remedy  needed  to  right  the  disordered  depart 
ments.  He  persuaded  General  Nathaniel  Greene 
to  accept  the  office  of  Quartermaster-General,  and  a 
change  was  also  made  in  the  Commissariat,  and  order 
and  efficiency  soon  took  the  place  of  the  confusion 
which  had  so  long  prevailed.  The  appointment  of 
Baron  Steuben  as  Inspector-General  was  also  most 
fortunate,  and  in  the  spring  of  1778,  Washington 
entered  upon  a  new  campaign  with  his  army  bet 
ter  drilled  than  ever  before.  Beyond  doubt,  how- 

1  That  he    was  is  asserted  in  the  correspondence   of  Bayneval,  the 
French  commissioner. 

2  Writings  of  Jefferson,  i.,  215. 

36 


562  PATRICK   HENRY. 

ever,  "  the  zeal  and  vigor ''  of  Governor  Henry  con> 
tributed  largely  to  the  continued  existence  of  the 
American  army  during  their  bitter  experience  a) 
Valley  Forge,  if  indeed  he  did  not  prevent  its  dis 
banding. 

During  this  period  of  privation  an  incident  oc^ 
curred  which  illustrated  the  regard  of  the  Virginia, 
Council  for  the  personal  comfort  of  Washington. 
On  April  7,  1778,  the  following  entry  was  made  in 
the  Journal: 

"  The  Board  being  credibly  informed  that  his 
Excellency  General  Washington  has  been  unsup- 
plied  for  some  time  past  with  many  articles  of 
living,  which  custom  &  the  great  fatigues  to  which 
he  is  constantly  exposed  must  make  necessary  to 
the  preservation  of  his  health,  and  considering  that 
it  may  be  impossible  to  provide  these  articles  in  the 
exhausted  part  of  America  where  the  army  is  at 
present  fixed,  do  advise  the  Governor  to  direct  the 
commissary  of  stores  to  procure  a  stock  of  good 
rum,  wine,  sugar  and  such  other  articles  as  his  Ex 
cellency  may  think  needful,  and  send  them  on  to 
Headquarters." 

The  present  was  forwarded  April  18,  with  a  let 
ter  from  the  Governor,  to  which  Washington  re 
sponded  May  16,  and  after  thanking  him  for  the 
"  agreeable  present,"  he  added,  "  It  is  now  on  its 
way  from  the  Head  of  Elk ;  when  it  arrives,  I  make 
no  doubt,  but  it  will  find  us  in  a  humour  to  do  it 
all  manner  of  justice." 

The  treaties  of  commerce  and  alliance  with  Louis 
XVI.  were  ratified  by  congress  on  May  4,  1778, 
and  Gerard,  the  first  French  minister,  arrived  in 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     563 

July.  In  the  meanwhile  the  three  British  com 
missioners,  Lord  Carlisle,  William  Eden,  and  Gov 
ernor  Johnstone,  arrived  with  the  conciliatory  offers 
of  Parliament,  and  reaching  Philadelphia  June  6, 
they  found  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  who  had  superseded 
Lord  Howe,  in  the  act  of  evacuating  the  city. 
They  at  once  set  to  work  to  win  congress  from 
France,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  try  bribery  for  the 
accomplishment  of  their  purpose. 

Perhaps  to  no  one  in  America  was  the  news  of  the 
French  alliance  more  grateful  than  to  Governor 
Henry.1  He  had  predicted  at  the  beginning  of  the 
strife  that  the  causes  which  finally  brought  about  that 
alliance  would  accomplish  it,  and  upon  this  firm  con 
viction  he  had  expressed  himself  willing  to  enter  into 
the  unequal  conflict.  The  fulfilment  of  his  prediction 
had  been  long  delayed,  and  he  saw  the  credit  of  the 
United  States  rapidly  wasting  away,  and  with  its 
decay  the  chilling  of  that  ardor  which  had  kept  up 
the  army.  He  realized  that  the  patriot  cause  was 
on  the  brink  of  an  awful  precipice,  from  which  the 
French  alliance  only  could  save  it.  The  idea  of  a 
return  to  any  connection  with  Great  Britain  had 
become  abhorrent  to  him,  and  he  had  no  patience 
with  the  men  who  would  listen  for  a  moment  to  the 
proposals  which  involved  an  abandonment  of  inde 
pendence.  But  we  will  let  him  express  his  feelings 
in  his  own  nervous  language.  At  the  spring  session 
of  the  Legislature  he  saw  with  pain  that  the  oppo 
sition  to  Richard  Henry  Lee  was  still  strong,  and 
regarding  him  as  one  of  the  ablest  advocates  of  the 
patriot  cause,  he  feared  that  the  opposition  to  his 

1  See  letter  to  him  from  Delegates  in  Congress  announcing  it.  Girar- 
din,  277. 


564  PATRICK  HENRY 

re-election  to  congress  was  caused  by  the  sympathy 
of  some  of  his  opponents  with  the  British  proposals. 
He  thereupon  wrote  him  the  following  letter : 

u  WILLIAMSBURG  June  18th,  1778. 

"Mr  DEAR  SIB  :  Both  your  last  letters  came  to 
hand  to-day.  I  felt  for  you,  on  seeing  the  order  in 
which  the  balloting  placed  the  delegates  in  Con 
gress.  It  is  an  effect  of  that  rancorous  malice,  that 
has  so  long  followed  you,  through  that  arduous 
path  of  duty  which  you  have  invariably  travelled, 
since  America  resolved  to  resist  her  oppressors.  Is 
it  any  pleasure  to  you,  to  remark,  that  at  the  same 
era  in  which  these  men  figure  against  you,  public 
spirit  seems  to  have  taken  its  flight  from  Virginia  ? 
It  is  too  much  the  case ;  for  the  quota  of  our  troops 
is  not  half  made  up,  and  no  chance  seems  to  remain 
for  completing  it.  The  Assembly  voted  three 
hundred  and  fifty  horse,  and  two  thousand  men,  to 
be  forthwith  raised,  and  to  join  the  grand  army. 
Great  bounties  are  offered,  but  I  fear,  the  only  ef 
fect  will  be,  to  expose  our  State  to  contempt,  for  I 
believe  no  soldiers  will  enlist,  especially  in  the  in 
fantry.  Can  you  credit  it ;  no  effort  was  made  for 
supporting,  or  restoring  public  credit !  I  pressed 
it  warmly  on  some,  but  in  vain.  This  is  the  reason 
we  get  no  soldiers.  We  shall  issue  fifty  or  sixty 
thousand  dollars  in  cash,  to  equip  the  cavalry,  and 
their  time  is  to  expire  at  Christmas.  I  believe  they 
will  not  be  in  the  field  before  that  time.  Let  not 
Congress  rely  on  Virginia  for  soldiers.  I  tell  you 
my  opinion,  they  will  not  be  got  here  until  a  differ 
ent  spirit  prevails.  I  look  at  the  past  condition  of 
America,  as  at  a  dreadful  precipice,  from  which  we 
have  escaped,  by  means  of  the  generous  French,  to 
whom  I  will  be  everlastingly  bound  by  the  most 
heartfelt  gratitude.  But  I  must  mistake  matters, 
if  some  of  those  men  who  traduce  you,  do  not  pre- 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     565 

fer  the  offers  of  Britian.  You  will  have  a  different 
game  to  play  now  with  the  commissioners.  How 
comes  Governor  Johnstone  there  ?  I  do  not  see  how 
it  comports  with  his  past  life.  Surely  Congress 
will  never  recede  from  our  French  friends.  Salva 
tion  to  America  depends  upon  our  holding  fast  our 
attachment  to  them.  I  shall  date  our  ruin  from 
the  moment  that  it  is  exchanged  for  anything  Great 
Britian  can  say  or  do.  She  can  never  be  cordial 
with  us.  Baffled,  defeated,  disgraced  by  her  colo 
nies,  she  will  ever  meditate  revenge.  We  can  find 
no  safety  but  in  her  ruin,  or  at  least  in  her  extreme 
humiliation,  which  has  not  happened,  and  cannot 
happen  until  she  is  deluged  with  blood,  or  thoroughly 
purged  by  a  revolution,  which  shall  wipe  from  ex 
istence  the  present  king  with  his  connexions,  and 
the  present  system,  with  those  who  aid  and  abet  it. 
For  God's  sake,  my  dear  sir,  quit  not  the  councils 
of  your  country,  until  you  see  us  forever  disjoined 
from  Great  Britian.  The  old  leaven  still  works. 
Ihe  flesh  pots  of  Egypt  are  still  savoury  to  degener 
ate  palates.  Again,  we  are  undone  if  the  French  al 
liance  is  not  religiously  observed.  Excuse  my  free 
dom.  I  know  your  love  to  our  country,  and  this  is 
my  motive.  May  heaven  give  you  health  and  pros 
perity. 

"  I  am,  yours  affectionately, 

"PATRICK  HENRY. 

"To  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE." 


The  day  before  this  letter  was  written,  congress 
declined  the  British  proposals.  The  commissioners, 
after  making  a  second  effort  to  treat  with  that  body, 
which  was  not  noticed  by  it,  issued  a  manifesto  ad 
dressed  to  Congress,  to  the  Provincial  Assemblies, 
and  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Colonies,  offering 
to  treat  with  assemblies  separately,  or  with  the 


566  PATRICK   HENRY. 

colonies  jointly,  and  proclaiming  a  general  pardon 
to  all  who  would  withdraw  from  opposition  to  the 
British  Government.  At  the  same  time  they 
threatened  vengeance  on  those  who  should  persist 
in  withholding  their  allegiance  from  the  British 
king.  They  used  the  following  language:  "The 
policy,  as  well  as  the  benevolence,  of  Great  Britain 
have  thus  far  checked  the  extremes  of  war,  when 
they  tended  to  distress  a  people  still  considered  as 
our  fellow-subjects,  and  to  desolate  a  country 
shortly  to  become  a  source  of  mutual  advantage; 
but  when  that  country  professes  the  unnatural  de 
sign  not  only  of  estranging  herself  from  us,  but  of 
mortgaging  herself  and  her  resources  to  our  enemies, 
the  whole  contest  is  changed;  and  the  question 
is  how  far  Great  Britain  may,  by  every  means 
in  her  power,  destroy  or  render  useless  a  connection 
contrived  for  her  ruin,  and  for  the  aggrandizement 
of  France.  Under  such  circumstances,  the  laws  of 
self-preservation  must  direct  the  conduct  of  Great 
Britain ;  and  if  the  British  colonies  are  to  become 
an  accession  to  France,  will  direct  her  to  render 
that  accession  of  as  little  avail  as  possible  to  her 
enemy."  To  this  threat  of  extermination  Congress 
replied  with  dignity  and  firmness.  Contrasting  their 
mode  of  conducting  the  war  with  that  pursued  by 
Great  Britain,  they  said  "  should  she  persist  in  her 
present  career  of  barbarity,  we  will  take  such  exem 
plary  vengeance  as  shall  deter  others  from  a  like 
conduct." 

The  commissioners  failed  to  make  any  more  im 
pression  on  the  State  Assemblies  than  they  had 
done  on  Congress.  A  special  messenger,  in  the  per 
son  of  a  British  officer,  was  sent  by  them  to  Vir- 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     567 

ginia,  the  fate  of  whose  mission  is  detailed  in  the 
following  extract  from  the  House  Journal,  under 
date  October  17,  1778  : 

"  His  Excellency  the  Governor  having  received 
information  from  Major  Thomas  Mathews,  the  offi 
cer  commanding  at  Fort  Henry,  that  a  British  offi 
cer  has  arrived  there,  charged  with  dispatches  from 
the  enemy  at  New  York,  directed  to  the  Speaker  of 
the  Assembly,  to  the  several  officers  of  Government 
in  this  State,  and  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  which 
Major  Mathews  has  refused  to  receive  till  he  shall 
know  the  pleasure  of  the  Governor  therein,  and  he 
having  laid  the  said  information  before  this  House, 
and  requested  their  advice  how  he  shall  proceed : 

"  Resolved,  therefore,  That  his  Excellency  the 
Governor  be  requested  to  inform  Major  Mathews 
that  this  House  highly  approved  his  conduct  in  re 
fusing  to  receive  the  several  dispatches  brought  by 
the  British  officer  from  New  York. 

"  Resolved,  That  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  be 
requested  to  direct  Maj.  Thomas  Mathews  to  inform 
the  officer  charged  with  the  dispatches  from  New 
York,  that  they  look  on  this  attempt  as  calculated 
to  mislead  and  divide  the  good  people  of  this  coun 
try,  and  that  they  highly  resent  the  behaviour  of 
him,  and  those  who  sent  him,  as  they  must  know 
that  this  State  ought  to  hold  no  such  correspondence 
with  the  enemy  of  America. 

"  Resolved,  That  his  Excellency  the  Governor  be 
requested  to  direct  Maj.  Mathews  to  order  the  offi 
cer  charged  with  the  dispatches  to  depart  this  state 
with  the  same,  and  to  inform  him  that,  in  future, 
any  person  making  a  like  attempt  shall  be  secured, 
as  an  enemy  to  America." 

The  failure  of  the  Commissioners  had  been  antici 
pated  by  the  Government  before  they  sailed,  and  or- 


568  PATRICK   HENRY. 

ders  had  been  given  for  a  more  cruel  prosecution  of 
the  war  in  the  ensuing  campaign,1  in  which  the  In 
dians  along  the  western  and  southern  frontier  were 
to  play  an  important  part.  In  order,  however,  to 
prevent  if  possible  the  ratification  of  the  French 
treaty,  or  to  frame  an  excuse  for  such  conduct,  a 
copy  of  the  conciliatory  acts  had  been  transmitted 
to  Congress  before  they  had  knowledge  of  the  treaty. 
To  the  honor  of  that  body,  be  it  said,  they  expressed 
their  disapproval  of  the  offer,  and  their  determina 
tion  to  abide  by  their  declaration  of  independence 
at  all  hazards. 

It  has  been  a  matter  of  discussion  among  histo 
rians,  whether  the  United  States  would  have  been 
able  to  maintain  their  independence  without  the 
aid  of  France.  Without  going  into  the  discussion 
here,  it  is  interesting  to  find  that  three  of  the 
most  ardent  and  hopeful  of  the  leaders  in  the  Revo 
lution  seemed  convinced  that  the  cause  would  prob 
ably  have  been  lost,  but  for  the  foreign  aid  which 
was  obtained. 

We  have  seen  the  strong  expression  of  his  fears 
by  Governor  Henry  in  his  letter  to  Lee  of  June  18, 
1778.  In  the  journal  of  Arthur  Lee,  under  date 
September  30,  1777,  we  find  this  entry  :  "  I  read  a 
paragraph  to  the  commissioners  in  my  brother  Rich 
ard  Henry  Lee's  letter,  stating  that  without  an  al 
liance  with  France  and  Spain,  with  a  considerable 
loan  to  support  their  funds,  it  would  b'e  difficult  to 
maintain  their  independence.2  That  Washington 
agreed  with  Henry  and  Lee  is  made  plain  by  his 
published  correspondence.  The  immediate  effect 
of  the  alliance  with  France  was  to  induce  a  reliance 

1  Bancroft,  x.,  123.  2  Life  of  Arthur  Lee,  vol.  i.,  335. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND  TERM.     569 

on  her  aid,  and  a  consequent  relaxation  of  effort  on 
the  part  of  the  Americans,  which  was  of  great  in 
jury  to  their  cause.  While  the  Legislature  of  Vir 
ginia  at  its  May  session  ordered  the  requisite  miin- 
b.er  of  troops  to  be  raised  by  voluntary  enlistments 
to  fill  the  State's  quota  in  the  Continental  army, 
they  did  nothing  to  give  value  to  the  currency,  and 
they  left  the  Governor  powerless  to  obey  their  or 
der.  The  bounties  offered  by  this  act  were  so 
valueless  by  reason  of  the  depreciated  currency, 
and  the  prices  paid  for  substitutes  by  the  drafted 
militia  were  so  high,  and  that  service  so  greatly 
preferable,1  that  Governor  Henry  had  no  hope  of 
keeping  Virginia's  quota  of  regular  troops  in  the 
field,  and  on  June  18,  1778,  he  frankly  wrote  the 
President  of  Congress  to  that  effect.2  His  embar 
rassment  was  the  greater  as  the  term  of  enlistments 
of  the  first  nine  Virginia  regiments  expired  early  in 
1778. 

But  the  energies  of  the  Governor  during  his 
second  term  were  not  alone  devoted  to  the 
support  of  the  regular  army.  The  Indians  were 
a  continual  source  of  trouble.3  The  persistent 
attacks  upon  the  Kentucky  settlements  induced 
the  Council  to  give  to  Colonel  John  Todd  250 
men  for  their  defence.4  A  much  larger  force  was 
needed,  however,  for  the  protection  of  the  settle 
ments  east  of  the  Ohio.  The  Indian  tribes  on  the 


1  See  post,  vol.  iii.,  18,  letter  of  Washington  to  Henry  of  November  13, 
1777,  in  which  he  deplores  this  and  says :   "To  this  fatal  source  is  owing 
the  ill  success  of  recruiting  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other.'' 

2  See  post,  vol.  iii.,  177. 

3  See  Withers'  Border  Warfare  for  an  account  of  the  Indian  depreda 
tions  upon  the  Virginians. 

4  Executive  Journal  for  June  28,  1777,  p.  30. 


570  PATRICK  HENRY. 

western  side  of  that  river  were  constantly  in 
cited  to  violence  by  the  British  agents,  and  so  seri 
ous  became  their  hostilities  that  Congress  in  the 
spring  of  1777,  directed  General  Hand,  stationed  at 
Pittsburg,  to  embody  a  large  force  of  militia,  and 
attack  the  Indian  settlements.  This  order  involved 
the  calling  out  from  the  counties  in  Virginia  adja 
cent  to  Pittsburg  a  portion  of  their  militia.  This 
General  Hand  attempted  to  do  by  his  own  mandate, 
and  in  doing  so  caused  what  was  doubtless  the  first 
conflict  of  Federal  and  State  authorities.  The  Gov 
ernor  behaved  with  firmness  and  discretion  on  the 
occasion.  He  wrote  to  General  Hand  and  to  Con 
gress,  claiming,  under  the  constitution  of  the  State, 
the  sole  right  to  embody  her  militia,  but  adding 
that  by  this  claim  he  did  not  mean  to  impede  the 
service  General  Hand  was  sent  upon,  but  on  the 
contrary,  would  forward  it,  by  himself  giving  orders 
to  the  several  county  lieutenants  adjacent  to  Fort 
Pitt  to  embody  as  many  of  the  militia  as  General 
Hand  might  need,  and  to  march  them  under  their 
proper  officers  to  such  places  as  General  Hand 
might  direct,  of  which  report  must  be  made  to  the 
Executive.  He  gave  orders  accordingly  to  the 
county  lieutenants  of  Yohogania,  Monongalia,  Ohio, 
Hampshire,  Botetourt,  Augusta,  Dunmore,  and  Fred 
erick.1  In  order  to  avoid  the  complications  of  the 
militia  law,  however,  the  Governor  afterward  deter 
mined  to  raise  a  sufficient  volunteer  force. 

Some  four  or  five  companies  were  accordingly 
raised  in  the  counties  of  Augusta,  Botetourt,  and 
Greenbrier,  who  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Skillern  marched  to  Fort  Eandolph,  which  had  been 

1  Executive  Journal,  33. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     571 

erected  at  Point  Pleasant,  where  General  Hand  was 
to  meet  them.  The  fort  was  commanded  by  Captain 
Arbuckle,  who  had  been  visited  in  the  summer  by 
the  great  Shawanese  chief,  Cornstalk,  accompanied 
by  a  Delaware  chief,  Red  Hawk,  a  companion  in 
arms  three  years  before  at  the  bloody  battle  which 
had  occurred  upon  the  site  of  the  Fort.  There  was 
a  third  chief  in  the  party  whose  name  has  not  been 
preserved.  Cornstalk  had  been  faithful  to  the 
stipulations  of  his  treaty  with  Dunmore,  and  now 
when  he  found  that  the  British  agents  were  con 
federating  the  western  tribes  against  the  Americans, 
he  used  all  his  eloquence  to  dissuade  his  own  tribe 
from  joining  with  them.  Finding  he  was  likely  to 
fail,  he  determined  to  visit  the  Fort  and  inform  the 
Americans  of  the  condition  of  affairs.  He  frankly 
told  Captain  Arbuckle  what  the  British  were  doing, 
and  that  all  the  nations,  except  himself  and  his 
own  tribe,  had  determined  to  engage  with  them ; 
and  he  added  :  "  The  current  sets  so  strong  against 
the  Americans,  that  my  tribe  will  float  writh  it,  I 
fear,  in  spite  of  all  my  exertions."  Upon  hearing 
this  Captain  Arbuckle  determined  to  detain  the 
three  chiefs  as  hostages,  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the 
meditated  hostilities.  He  at  once  communicated 
the  facts  to  Governor  Henry,  who  took  steps  result 
ing  in  the  raising  of  the  volunteer  force  now 
assembled  at  the  Fort.  Whi]e  waiting  for  General 
Hand  to  come  down  the  river  from  Pittsburg,  the 
Virginia  officers  held  frequent  conversations  with 
Cornstalk,  who  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  describ 
ing  the  country  west  of  the  Ohio.  One  day  in 
November,  while  he  was  drawing  for  them  with 
chalk  upon  the  floor  a  map  of  the  country  with  its 


572  PATRICK   HENRY. 

water  streams,  a  voice  was  heard  from  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river.  Cornstalk  immediately  recognized 
the  voice  of  his  son  Elinipsico,  walked  to  the  door, 
and  answered  him.  The  young  chief  then  crossed 
over,  and  they  embraced  each  other  in  the  most 
tender  and  affectionate  manner.  The  young  man 
had  become  uneasy  at  the  prolonged  absence  of  his 
father,  and  came  to  inquire  the  cause.  On  the 
next  day  a  council  of  officers  was  held  to  which 
Cornstalk  was  invited.  He  seemed  to  be  impressed 
with  a  presentiment  of  his  approaching  end.  In 
addressing  the  council  he  said  :  "  When  I  was  young 
and  went  to  war,  I  thought  that  might  be  the  last 
time,  and  I  would  return  no  more.  I  still,  lived. 
Now  I  am  in  the  midst  of  you,  you  may  kill  me  if 
you  please ;  I  can  die  but  once ;  and  it  is  all  one  to 
me,  now  or  another  time."  This  last  declaration 
concluded  every  sentence  of  his  speech.  While  the 
council  was  in  session  two  young  men,  Hamilton  and 
Gilmore,  who  had  been  hunting  across  the  Kanawha 
and  were  returning  to  the  Fort,  were  fired  upon  by 
some  Indians  concealed  in  the  weeds  on  the  bank  of 
the  river,  and  Gilmore  was  killed.  The  two  men 
were  members  of  Captain  John  Hall's  company, 
from  Rockbridge  County,  and  Gilmore  was  a  kins 
man  of  the  captain.  Some  of  his  company  imme 
diately  jumped  into  a  canoe  and  went  to  the  re 
lief  of  Hamilton,  who  was  calling  to  them  on  the 
bank  in  momentary  expectation  of  death.  Having 
taken  in  Hamilton  they  went  for  the  body  of  Gil- 
more  and  placed  it  in  the  canoe.  It  was  scalped 
and  covered  with  blood.  The  men  then  pushed  for 
the  opposite  bank,  becoming  more  and  more  in 
furiated  as  they  beheld  the  body  of  their  dead  com- 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     573 

rade.  Captain  Arbuckle  and  John  Stuart,  of  the 
Greenbrier  company,  were  standing  on  the  bank  and 
witnessed  the  crossing  of  Captain  Hall's  men. 
Stuart  expressed  his  fears  that  the  men  would  be 
for  killing  the  hostages,  but  Arbuckle  could  not 
believe  that  they  would  commit  so  great  a  crime  as 
to  kill  helpless  hostages,  in  no  wise  accessory  to  the 
murder  of  Gilmore.  Scarcely  had  the  canoe 
touched  the  shore,  however,  when  the  cry  was 
heard  :  "  Let  us  kill  the  Indians  in  the  Fort !  "  and 
the  men,  with  Captain  Hall  at  their  head,  came  up 
the  bank,  gun  in  hand  and  pale  with  rage. 

Arbuckle  and  Stuart  met  them,  and  did  their  best 
to  dissuade  them  from  so  foul  a  deed,  but  with 
cocked  guns  they  threatened  death  to  any  one  inter 
fering,  and  they  rushed  toward  the  Fort.  The  wife 
of  the  interpreter  at  the  Fort  had  been  a  prisoner 
among  the  Indians,  and  bore  the  prisoners  much 
affection.  She  heard  the  threats  and  ran  to  their 
cabin  to  tell  them  that  the  soldiers  were  coming  to 
kill  them,  because  the  Indians  who  killed  Gilmore 
had  come  with  Elinipsico  the  day  before.  He 
utterly  denied  it,  and  protested  he  knew  nothing  of 
them.  His  father  seeing  him  show  some  alarm, 
said  with  perfect  self-possession :  "  My  son,  the 
Great  Spirit  has  seen  fit  that  we  should  die  together, 
and  has  sent  you  to  that  end.  It  is  his  will,  let  us 
submit."  They  were  sitting  upon  stools.  Almost 
instantly  the  men  were  heard  approaching.  The 
brave  old  hero  arose  from  his  seat  and  met  them  at 
the  door.  The  crack  of  seven  rifles  was  heard,  and 
he  fell  pierced  with  seven  bullets,  and  expired  with 
out  a  struggle.  His  son  was  shot  dead  as  he  sat 
upon  the  stool,  and  Red  Hawk  was  killed  while, 


574  PATRICK  HENRY. 

panic  stricken,  he  was  attempting  to  hide  in  the 
chimney.  The  fourth  chief  was  shamefully  mangled 
and  was  long  in  the  agonies  of  death.1 

Thus  perished  the  mighty  Cornstalk,  chief  of  the 
Shawanese,  and  king  of  the  Northern  Confederacy 
of  1774,  one  of  the  greatest  of  Indian  chieftains. 
Ever  inclined  to  honorable  peace,  and  friendly  to 
the  white  race,  when  his  country's  wrongs  "  called 
aloud  to  battle,"  he  became  the  thunderbolt  of  war. 
Unlike  his  race,  he  waged  no  war  upon  the  unpro 
tected  and  defenceless,  but  chose  rather  to  meet  his 
enemies,  girded  for  battle,  in  open  conflict.  His 
noble  bearing,  his  generous  attachment  to  the 
Americans  in  spite  of  the  arts  of  unscrupulous 
British  emissaries,  his  exposure  of  himself  to  pre 
vent  the  desolation  of  the  Virginia  frontier,  and 
the  untimely  and  perfidious  death  which  was  his 
reward,  excited  the  deepest  indignation  against  his 
barbarous  murderers.  And  most  bitterly  did  the 
whites  feel  the  vengeance  of  his  tribe. 

A  few  days  after  this  outrage  General  Hand 
reached  the  Fort  without  provisions,  and  having 
failed  to  raise  any  force  in  Pennsylvania.2  The 
Virginians  had  found  no  provisions  for  them  at  the 
Fort,  and  now  General  Hand's  mismanagement  left 
them  nothing  to  do  but  to  return  to  their  homes, 
and  the  expedition  was  abandoned. 

The  frontier  was  at  once  thrown  into  the  greatest 
alarm,  expecting  the  Indians  to  avenge  the  murders 
at  the  Fort.  Colonel  William  Preston,  of  Mont 
gomery  County,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Governor  in- 

1  This  account  is  taken  from  the  narrative  of  John  Lewis,  in  Howe's 
Virginia,  364. 

2  Pennsylvania  Archives,  vi.,  18. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     575 

forming  him  of  the  danger  impending,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  Executive  received  a  letter  from  the 
Board  of  War,  and  a  memorial  from  the  inhabitants 
of  Greenbrier  County,  on  the  same  subject.  No  one 
could  feel  more  indignant  at  the  foul  deed  which 
was  threatening  to  drench  the  frontier  in  blood  than 
Governor  Henry,  but  he  did  not  allow  his  feelings 
to  delay  the  steps  required  by  the  occasion.  The 
following  entry  in  the  Executive  Journal  for  Feb 
ruary  19,  1778,  shows  with  what  promptness,  wis 
dom,  and  propriety  he  acted. 

"  The  Board  resumed  the  Consideration  of  the 
letters  received  from  Colonel  William  Preston  & 
•the  Board  of  war,  and  also  the  memorial  of  the  In 
habitants  of  Green  Brier  on  the  subject  of  the  dan 
gerous  situation  of  our  Western  &  Northwestern 
Frontiers,  in  consequence  of  the  late  murder  of  the 
Cornstalk  and  other  Shawanese  Indians  at  Fort 
Randolph  —  His  excellency  the  Governor  was 
pleased  to  propose  the  following  plan  of  Defence 
viz. 

u  To  give  directions  for*  putting  all  the  Guns  in 
that  part  of  the  Country  into  good  repair — to  fur 
nish  one  pound  of  lead  to  each  Militia  man,  they 
being  supposed  to  be  possessed  of  powder  sufficient 
for  the  present,  to  direct  trusty  scouts  to  range 
towards  the  enemies  Country,  to  advise  proper 
stockades  for  receiving  the  helpless  inhabitants 
wherever  the  savages  may  have  it  in  their  power  to 
penetrate,  to  direct  the  County  Lieutenants  of  Bote- 
tourt  and  Montgomery  to  consult  together  on  the  ex 
pediency  of  establishing  a  post  near  the  mouth  of 
Elk  river  for  keeping  up  the  correspondence  be 
tween  Green  Brier  <fe  Fort  Randolph  and  checking 
the  incursions  of  the  enemy,  and  to  do  in  that  mat 
ter  as  they  shall  judge  best — to  reinforce  the  Gam- 


576  PATRICK  HENRY. 

son  at  Fort  Randolph  with  fifty  men  from  the  mili 
tia  of  Botetourt,  and  to  give  Directions  that  earnest 
and  close  pursuit  after  the  foremost  scalping  parties 
be  made  in  order  to  discourage  others. 

"  His  excellency  also  observed  upon  the  necessity 
which  in  his  opinion  there  is,  for  endeavouring  to 
conciliate  the  affections  of  those  Indians,  and  in  order 
thereto  of  bringing  the  perpetrators  of  that  murder 
to  condign  punishment ;  for  effecting  which  he  pro 
posed  to  answer  Colonel  Preston's  Letter  by  telling 
him,  that  if  he  were  not  convinced  it  would  be  wrong 
to  expose  the  Inhabitants  generally  to  that  resent 
ment  which  a  few  only  deserve,  he  should  decline 
taking  any  measures  at  all  for  a  defensive  war ;  but 
that  if  the  frontier  inhabitants  expected  the  exer 
tions  of  the  Government  in  their  favor  on  any  fu 
ture  occasion,  they  must  endeavour  to  apprehend 
and  deliver  up  to  justice  the  persons  concerned  in 
that  murder,  who  are  all  said  to  be  well  known,  and 
may  be  easily  secured  if  the  generality  of  the  peo 
ple  in  those  parts  are  disposed  to  do  it ;  and  that 
should  they  neglect  this  opportunity  of  giving  that 
proof  of  their  abhorrence  of  an  act,  which  not  only 
is  most  cruel  and  unjust,  but  has  moreover  drawn 
on  their  country  other  enemies,  when  those  we 
already  had  required  the  utmost  exertions  of  Amer 
ica,  they  must  expect  to  be  left  to  feel  the  vengeance 
which  from  their  situation  they  are  most  exposed 
to,  and  which  in  that  case  they  will  so  well  de 
serve. 

"  Of  all  which  the  Board  expressed  their  appro 
bation  and  advised  the  Governor  to  give  orders  to 
carry  the  above  plan  into  execution. 

"  The  Governor  accordingly  prepared  letters  on  the 
foregoing  subject  to  Colonels  Preston1  &  Fleming, 
and  so  far  as  respects  the  measures  to  be  taken  f or 
the  Defence  and  security  of  the  Frontiers,  similar 

1  Sae  letter  to  Colonel  William  Preston,  February  19,  1778,  vol.  iii.,  144. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND  TERM.     577 

letters  were  written  to  the  County  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  Campbell  of  Washington." 

On  March  27,  the  Governor,  in  compliance  with 
the  request  of  Colonels  Preston  and  Fleming,  ordered 
that  fifty  men  from  Botetourt,  and  fifty  men  from 
Greenbrier  be  stationed  at  Kelly's,  as  a  post  of  com 
munication  with  Fort  Randolph,  and  that  fifty  men 
from  Rockb ridge  be  thrown  into  Fort  Randolph.1 

To  these  precautions  the  Governor  added  efforts 
at  conciliation.  He  offered  a  reward  for  the  appre 
hension  of  the  murderers  of  the  chiefs  at  Fort  Ran 
dolph,  and  when  Congress  also  made  the  effort  to 
conciliate  the  justly  offended  savages,  he,  acting 
under  a  resolution  of  that  body,  appointed  Andrew 
Lewis  and  John  Walker  to  meet  the  Delaware, 
Shawanese  and  other  tribes  invited  to  meet  at  Pitts- 
burg  on  July  23,2  for  the  purpose,  if  possible,  of 
preventing  an  Indian  war. 

The  efforts  at  conciliation  proved  abortive.  Cap 
tains  Hall  and  Hugh  Galbraith  were  arrested  and 
brought  before  the  County  Court  of  Rockbridge 
for  the  murder  of  Cornstalk  and  his  companions, 
but  the  trial  was  only  a  farce,  as  they  were  dis 
charged  because  no  one  appeared  to  testify  against 
them.3  The  Indians  declined  the  overtures  of 
peace,  and  the  Shawanese,  fired  with  a  desire  for  re 
venge,  now  joined  heartily  with  their  neighbors  in 
hostilities.  In  May,  1778,  a  force  of  more  than 
two  hundred  warriors  appeared  before  Fort  Ran 
dolph  and  laid  siege  to  it  for  a  week.  The  place 

1  Executive  Journal,  227.  2  Executive  Journal,  273. 

3  WaddelPs  Annals  of  Augusta  County,  164.     The  court  sat  for  their 
trial  April  18,  and  May  5,  1778. 


578  PATRICK   HENRY. 

was  successfully  defended  by  a  small  force  under 
Captain  McKee,  then  in  command.  Abandoning 
the  attack  upon  the  Fort,  they  made  a  raid  into 
Greenbrier  and  penetrated  to  the  vicinity  of  Lewis- 
burg.  They  were  repulsed  by  a  force  led  by  Cap 
tain  John  Stuart  and  Colonel  Samuel  Lewis,  and 
driven  from  the  country.  Higher  up  the  savages 
broke  into  the  beautiful  Wyoming  Valley  of  Penn 
sylvania,  and  perpetrated  the  brutal  massacre  of  the 
inhabitants  which  has  become  so  celebrated  in  prose 
and  verse. 

Upon  the  failure  of  General  Hand  to  organize 
the  expedition  he  was  ordered  to  conduct,  Con 
gress  directed  that  General  Mclntosh,  a  Georgian, 
experienced  as  an  Indian  fighter,  be  sent  with  a 
large  force  against  Detroit,  the  residence  of  Henry 
Hamilton,  the  British  Governor,  who  with  great 
cruelty  continually  incited  the  Indians  to  the  mas 
sacre  of  the  Americans.  A  portion  of  the  regular 
army  was  detailed  for  this  service,  among  which 
was  the  13th  Virginia  regiment.  But  the  main  re 
liance  was  upon  the  militia.  Of  these  Virginia  was 
required  to  furnish  2,000  men,  and  in  addition 
5,000  horses,  together  with  the  ammunition,  pro 
visions,  and  other  military  stores  required  for  the 
expedition.  This  requisition  was  received  about 
July,  1778,  and  the  Governor  found  himself  power 
less  to  fill  it  in  time  for  a  successful  campaign, 
which  the  winter  would  render  impracticable.  In 
deed  Congress  seemed  to  consider  the  resources  of 
Governor  Henry  well-nigh  exhaustless,  or  such  a 
requisition  would  not  have  been  made  upon  him  so 
soon  after  his  great  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Conti 
nental  army.  In  a  letter  of  July  8,  1778,  addressed 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.'    579 

to  the  President  of  Congress,  Governor  Henry 
clearly  pointed  out  the  impossibility  of  arranging 
for  such  an  expedition  at  that  time,  adding,  "The 
miseries  of  the  people  of  Virginia  who  live  exposed 
to  the  assaults  of  the  savages,  affect  me  most  sensi 
bly.  And  in  my  anxiety  to  see  something  doing 
for  their  protection  I  hope  for  excuse  from  Con 
gress  when  I  suggest,  that  if  an  expedition  is  di 
rected  against  the  hostile  tribes  nearest  our 
frontiers,  very  good  consequences  might  result. 
Such  a  step  seems  to  be  free  from  the  objections 
which  are  hinted  against  the  attack  of  Detroit, 
where  a  post  will  be  difficult  to  maintain,  while  the 
great  intermediate  country  is  occupied  by  hostile 
Indians,  and  from  which  it  seems  easy  for  the  enemy 
to  retreat  with  all  their  stores  while  they  are  su 
perior  upon  the  adjacent  waters." 

This  advice  was  heeded,  and  Congress,  by  resolu 
tion,  directed  the  expedition  against  Detroit  to  be 
laid  aside  for  the  present,  and  General  Mclntosh  to 
carry  the  war  into  the  Indian  country  as  he  might 
deem  best.  This  the  Governor  aided  by  putting 
the  militia  of  the  counties  nearest  to  Pittsburg  at 
the  disposal  of  General  Mclntosh.1 

An  expedition  was  undertaken  which  proceeded 
as  far  as  Tuscarawas  River,  upon  whose  banks  Fort 
Laurens  was  established,  and  garrisoned  by  150 
men  under  Colonel  John  Gibson.  The  remainder 
of  the  force  then  returned  to  Pittsburg.  During 
the  next  year  Fort  Laurens  was  abandoned,  and 
thus  the  expedition  was  fruitless. 

1  See  Governor  Henry's  order  to  County  Lieutenant  of  Frederick,  Au 
gust  6,  1778,  vol.  iii.,  189. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

GOVEBNOK  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND  TEEM.— 1778. 

British  Occupation  of  the  Northwest. — Plan  of  George  Kogers 
Clark  to  Attack  their  Forts. — Approved  by  Governor  Henry. — 
Arrangements  Made  and  Instructions  Given  by  Him. — Force 
Enlisted  by  Clark. — His  Brilliant  Campaign. — Difficulties  Sur 
rounding  His  Occupation  of  the  Country. — Governor  Henry's 
Foresight  as  to  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Lawrence  Eivers. — 
Clark's  Attack  upon  St.  Vincent's.— Capture  of  Governor  Hamil 
ton. — Management  of  the  Indians. — Failure  of  Eeinforcements 
from  Kentucky. — Important  Services  of  Oliver  Pollock  in  Aid 
of  Clark. 

IN  striking  contrast  with  these  failures  of  Congres 
sional  plans,  was  the  brilliant  success  of  the  expe 
dition  of  George  Rogers  Clark,  sent  out  by  Gover 
nor  Henry  in  the  year  1778,  which  did  not  indeed 
accomplish  the  capture  of  Detroit,  but  which  was 
more  effectual,  in  that  it  resulted  in  the  capture 
of  the  British  Governor,  Henry  Hamilton,  and  the 
occupation  of  the  country  between  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Rivers.  When  we  consider  the  small 
force  employed,  the  boldness  of  the  enterprise,  the 
brilliancy  of  its  execution,  and  the  vast  conse 
quences  which  have  resulted  from  it,  this  expedition 
may  well  challenge  all  history  for  a  parallel.  Clark, 
who  suggested  the  expedition,  had  only  the  safety 
of  Kentucky  from  Indian  incursions  at  heart,  but 
Governor  Henry,  in  sending  it  out,  had  greater  ob 
jects  in  view,  the  accomplishment  of  which  has 
changed  the  history  of  the  United  States,  and 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     581 

made  it  possible  for  them  to  extend  across  the  con 
tinent. 

A  glance  at  the  map  of  North  America  will  re 
veal  two  most  remarkable  waterways,  the  posses 
sion  of  which  gives  control  of  the  continent.  Both 
take  their  rise  in  the  centre  of  the  continent.  The 
one  in  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  from  which  it  flows 
eastward  through  a  chain  of  the  largest  lakes  in  the 
world,  and  empties  through  the  St.  Lawrence  into 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  other,  the  Mississippi, 
rising  in  the  same  vicinity,  flows  southward  into  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  This  last  is  the  most  important 
river  in  the  world.  Of  great  length,  and  volume, 
it  stretches  its  Briarean  arms  to  the  Alleghanies  on 
the  east,  and  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west, 
holding  in  its  embrace  the  heart  of  the  continent. 
Governor  Henry  clearly  saw  that  upon  these  great 
arteries  depended  the  growth,  if  not  the  life,  of  the 
new  Republic,  and  he  set  himself  to  secure  the  more 
important  of  the  two,  trusting  to  Congress  to  secure 
the  other. 

We  are  most  fortunate  in  having  Clark's  own 
account  of  this  memorable  expedition,  and  of  the 
circumstances  which  led  to  it,  and  we  have  the 
journal  of  one  of  his  officers  covering  the  period  of 
his  most  remarkable  achievement.1 

The  British  occupation  of  the  country  between 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  was  secured  by  a  chain  of 
forts  reaching  from  Detroit,  at  the  mouth  of  Lake 
Huron,  to  Kaskaskia,  very  near  where  the  river  of 

1  Clark's  account  is  found  in  his  Memoir,  in  Dillon's  History  of  In 
diana  ;  and  in  a  letter  to  George  Mason  which,  with  Major  Bowman's 
journal,  was  published  by  Robert  Clarke  &  Co.  in  1869,  under  the  title 
of  "  Clark's  Campaign  in  the  Illinois  ;  "  and  in  Clark's  letters  to  Gov 
ernor  Henry. 


582  PATRICK   HENRY. 

that  name  empties  into  the  Mississippi,  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio.  These  forts  were  not  only  mil 
itary  stations,  whose  garrisons  kept  the  country  in 
subjection,  but  they  were  storehouses  at  which  sup 
plies  were  gathered,  which  were  used  in  securing 
the  friendship  of  the  native  tribes,  and  in  furnishing 
them  for  those  murderous  raids  upon  the  frontiers 
which  have  made  infamous  the  British  conduct  of 
the  American  war.  Upon  Clark's  return  to  Ken 
tucky,  in  1777,  he  had  become  so  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  from  these  forts  issued  the  evil  influences 
which  were  continually  staining  Kentucky  soil  with 
blood,  that  he  determined  to  inform  himself  of  their 
condition  and  liability  to  attack.  He  therefore  sent, 
during  the  summer,  two  young  hunters  as  spies,  to 
visit  the  forts  from  Kaskaskia  to  the  Wabash  River, 
and  report  their  condition.  These  young  men  soon 
returned  with  very  full  information.  They  reported 
the  Indians  gone  to  war,  and  only  small  garrisons 
left  in  the  forts,  most  of  the  soldiers  having  been 
withdrawn  to  defend  Detroit  from  the  attack  threat 
ened  from  Pittsburg.  The  French  population  they 
found  showing  some  inclination  toward  the  United 
States,  though  the  British  were  constantly  endeav 
oring  to  inflame  their  minds  against  them.  With 
this  information  Clark  set  out  for  Williamsburg,  in 
the  fall  of  1777,  having  for  his  main  object  the  set 
tlement  of  his  accounts  in  reference  to  the  Kentucky 
militia,  of  which  he  was  the  commander.  Some  of 
the  Kentuckians  looked  to  him  for  an  enterprise  for 
their  relief,  others  expected  him  to  join  the  army  in 
Virginia,  and  never  to  return  to  them.  He  left  the 
country  reluctantly,  and  with  a  promise  of  return 
to  their  assistance. 


GOVERNOR  OF   VIRGINIA.— SECOND  TERM.     583 

He  had  determined,  for  reasons  not  expressed, 
"not  to  have  any  further  command  whatever, 
without  he  should  find  a  very  great  call  for 
troops,  and  his  country  in  danger."  Upon  his  ar 
rival  at  Williamsburg  he  proceeded  to  settle  his  ac 
counts,  watching  in  the  meanwhile  the  disposition  of 
those  in  power  and  the  events  of  the  war.  He  soon 
found  that  the  Americans  were  as  sorely  pressed  by 
the  English  from  the  seaside,  as  they  were  by  the 
Indians  from  the  western  wilderness. 

The  capture  of  Burgoyne,  however,  put  a  differ 
ent  aspect  upon  affairs,  and  induced  him  to  suggest 
to  a  few  leading  men,  George  Wythe,  George  Ma 
son,  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  plan  of  attacking 
the  British  posts  in  the  Illinois  country.  These  gen 
tlemen  communicated  with  the  Governor,  and  on 
December  10,  1777,  Clark  had  an  interview  with 
him.  Governor  Henry  eagerly  seized  upon  the 
suggestion,  and  on  the  morning  of  that  day  sent  a 
special  message  to  the  Legislature,  then  in  session, 
asking  for  such  authority  as  he  needed  to  carry  it 
out.  Success  depended  upon  secrecy,  and  the  three 
men  let  into  the  secret  undertook  to  get  the  bill 
through  the  body  without  revealing  its  object  The 
House  Journal  of  December  10,  1777,  shows  the  re 
ceipt  of  the  Governor's  letter,  and  the  following  ac 
tion  on  it : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Governor  be  empowered, 
with  the  advice  of  the  council,  to  order  such  part 
of  the  militia  of  this  commonwealth  as  may  be  most 
convenient,  and  as  they  shall  judge  necessary,  con 
sistently  with  the  security  of  this  commonwealth,  to 
act  with  any  troops  on  an  expedition  that  may  be 
undertaken  against  any  of  our  western  enemies." 


584  PATRICK   HENRY. 

A  bill  was  passed  accordingly,  which  gave  the 
Governor  all  the  power  he  wanted.1 

The  Governor  then  made  the  most  particular  in 
quiries  of  several  gentlemen  at  Williamsburg  who 
were  well  acquainted  with  the  situation  of  the  Brit 
ish  posts,  and  questioned  Clark  closely  as  to  his 
plans,  including  the  chances  of  retreat  across  the 
Mississippi  in  case  of  defeat,  where  the  Spaniards, 
it  was  believed,  would  afford  protection.  The  re 
sult  was  the  determination  at  once  to  make  ready 
the  expedition.  Clark  was  summoned  to  attend  the 
Council  and  was  urged  to  accept  the  command.  He 
tells  us :  "  It  was  far  from  my  inclination  at  that 
time.  .  .  .  However  I  accepted  it  after  being 
told  the  command  of  this  little  army  was  designed 
for  me."  2  The  following  entry  in  the  Executive 
Journal  shows  the  action  taken  in  setting  on  foot 
this  memorable  enterprise. 

"  FRIDAY,  Jany  2,  1778. 

"  Present,  His  Excellency,  John  Page,  Dudley 
Digges,  John  Blair,  Nathaniel  Harrison  and  David 
Jameson,  Esquires. 

"  The  Governor  informed  the  Council  that  he  had 
had  some  conversation  with  several  Gentlemen  who 
were  well  acquainted  with  the  Western  Frontiers  of 
Virginia,  &  the  situation  of  the  post  at  Kaskasky 
held  by  the  British  King's  Forces,  where  there  are 
many  pieces  of  cannon,  <fe  military  stores  to  a  con 
siderable  amount;  &  that  he  was  informed  the 
place  was  at  present  held  by  a  very  weak  garrison, 
which  induced  him  to  believe  that  an  expedition 
against  it  might  be  carried  on  with  success,  but  that 
he  wished  the  advice  of  the  Council  on  the  occasion. 

1  Herring's  Statutes  at  Large,  ix. ,  374-5. 

2  Clark's  Campaign  in  the  Illinois,  33. 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     585 

"  Whereupon  they  advised  his  Excellency  to  set  on 
foot  the  expedition  against  Kaskasky  with  as  little 
delay  &  as  much  secrecy  as  possible,  &  for  the  pur 
pose  to  issue  his  warrant  upon  the  Treasurer  for 
twelve  hundred  pounds  payable  to  CoL  George 
Rogers  Clark,  who  is  willing  to  undertake  the  ser 
vice,  he  giving  bond  &  security  faithfully  to  ac 
count  for  the  same.  And  the  Council  further  ad 
vised  the  Governor  to  draw  up  proper  instructions 
for  Colonel  Clark.  His  Excellency  having  prepared 
the  instructions  accordingly,  the  same  were  read,  ap 
proved  of,  &>  are  as  follows,  viz. : 

"  COLONEL  CLAEK,  You  are  to  proceed  with  all  con 
venient  speed  to  raise  Seven  Companies  of  Soldiers 
to  consist  of  fifty  men  each,  officered  in  the  usual 
manner,  &>  armed  most  properly  for  the  enterprise,  & 
with  this  force  attack  the  British  post  at  Kaskasky. 

"  It  is  conjectured  that  there  are  many  pieces  of 
Cannon,  &  military  stores  to  considerable  amount  at 
that  place,  the  taking  and  preservation  of  which 
would  be  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  state.  If  you 
are  so  fortunate  therefore  as  to  succeed  in  your  ex 
pedition,  you  will  take  every  possible  measure  to  se 
cure  the  artillery  &  stores,  &  whatever  may  advan 
tage  the  state. 

"  For  the  transportation  of  the  Troops,  provisions, 
<fec.,  down  the  Ohio,  you  are  to  apply  to  the  Com 
manding  officer  at  Fort  Pitt  for  boats,  £,  during 
the  whole  transaction  you  are  to  take  especial  Care 
to  keep  the  true  destination  of  your  force  secret. 
Its  success  depends  upon  this.  Orders  are  there 
fore  given  to  Captn  Smith  to  secure  the  two  men 
from  Kaskasky ;  similar  conduct  will  be  proper  in 
similar  cases. 

"  It  is  earnestly  desired  that  you  show  humanity 
to  such  British  Subjects,  and  other  persons,  as  fall 
in  your  hands.  If  the  white  Inhabitants  at  the  post 
cfe  the  neighbourhood,  will  give  undoubted  evidence 


586  PATRICK   HENRY. 

of  their  attachment  to  this  State  (for  it  is  certain 
they  live  within  its  Limits),  by  taking  the  test  pre 
scribed  by  law,  and  by  every  other  ways  and  means 
in  their  power,  let  them  be  treated  as  fellow-citizens, 
and  their  persons  and  property  duly  secured.  As 
sistance  and  protection  against  all  enemies  what 
ever  shall  be  afforded  them,  &  the  commonwealth 
of  Virginia  is  pledged  to  accomplish  it.  But  if 
these  people  will  not  accede  to  these  reasonable  de 
mands,  they  must  feel  the  miseries  of  war,  under  the 
direction  of  that  Humanity  that  has  hitherto  distin 
guished  Americans,  &  which  it  is  expected  you  will 
ever  consider  as  the  Rule  of  your  Conduct,  &  from 
which  you  are  in  no  Instance  to  depart.  The  corps 
you  are  to  command  are  to  receive  the  pay  and  al 
lowance  of  militia,  &  to  act,  under  the  laws  and  reg 
ulations  of  this  state  now  in  force,  as  militia.  The 
Inhabitants  at  this  post  will  be  informed  by  you 
that  in  case  they  accede  to  the  offers  of  becoming 
citizens  of  this  Commonwealth,  a  proper  Garrison 
will  be  maintained  among  them,  &  every  attention 
bestowed  to  render  their  Commerce  beneficial,  the 
fairest  prospects  being  opened  to  the  Dominions  of 
both  France  &  Spain. 

"  It  is  in  Contemplation  to  establish  a  post  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  Cannon  will  be  wanted  to 
fortify  it.  Part  of  those  at  Kaskasky  will  be  easily 
brought  thither  or  otherwise  secured,  as  circum 
stances  will  make  necessary. 

"  You  are  to  apply  to  General  Hand  for  powder 
&  Lead  necessary  for  this  Expedition.  If  he  can't 
supply  it,  the  person  who  has  that  which  Capt.  Lynn 
brought  from  Orleans  can.  Lead  was  sent  to  Hamp 
shire  by  my  orders,  &  that  may  be  delivered  you." 

The  humane  spirit  in  which  this  paper  was  con 
ceived  has  been  greatly  applauded  by  historians. 
One  writer  on  Kentucky,  speaking  of  the  instruc- 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     587 

tions,  says,  "they  form  a  monument  of  durable  glory 
in  the  Kevolutionary  annals  of  our  parent  state."  l 

In  order  to  encourage  enlistments,  the  three  gen 
tlemen  who  undertook  to  procure  the  necessary  leg 
islation,  also  pledged  themselves  to  use  every  exer 
tion  to  obtain  a  grant  of  a  bounty  of  three  hundred 
acres  of  land  for  each  soldier  who  might  enlist.  It 
will  be  seen  that  it  was  the  design  of  the  Governor 
to  establish  a  post  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  in 
order  that  it  might  command  both  rivers.  This  is 
the  first  time  that  we  meet  with  such  a  suggestion, 
and  it  appears  to  have  been  the  conception  of  Gov 
ernor  Henry,  in  order  to  hold  the  Mississippi  as  a 
western  boundary.  Butler,  in  his  "  History  of  Ken 
tucky,"  2  gives  the  credit  of  this  "  politic  measure  " 
to  Governor  Jefferson,  basing  his  conclusion  on  a 
letter  of  express  instruction  written  by  Governor 
Jefferson  June  28,  1778.  The  letter  is  not  given, 
and  if  it  was  written  by  the  Governor  of  Virginia 
at  that  date,  it  was  the  letter  of  Governor  Henry. 
If  it  was  indeed  written  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  it  was 
subsequent  to  the  instructions  of  Governor  Henry 
to  Clark.  The  Fort  was  not  erected  until  1780, 
when  Mr.  Jefferson  was  Governor,  and  thus  the 
impression  doubtless  originated  that  he  first  de 
signed  it.  It  is  now  seen,  however,  that  the  credit 
is  due,  not  "to  the  comprehensive  mind  of  this 
statesman,"  but  to  that  of  Governor  Henry.3 

1  Butler :  History  of  Kentucky,  47.  '-'  Pp.  112,  113. 

3  After  Clark  had  left  Williamsburg  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  a 
fragment  of  the  reply  of  the  latter  is  preserved  in  Mr.  Henry  Pirtle's  In 
troduction  to  "  Clark's  Campaign  in  Illinois."  It  is  as  follows  : 

WlLLIAMB.      .       .      . 

"COL.  GEO.  B.  CLAKK. 

"  SIK  :  Your  letter  and  verba  .  .  .  by  Mr  St.  Vrain  was  received  yes 
terday.  Your  w  .  .  .  attended  to.  Much  solicitude  will  be  felt  for 


588  PATRICK  HENRY. 

The  secrecy  required  for  the  expedition  would 
have  been  prevented  had  these  instructions  been 
used  in  raising  the  force.  Governor  Henry  there 
fore  gave  Clark  another  paper  to  be  used  in  recruit 
ing  his  little  army.  It  was  as  follows  : 

"  LIEUT  :  COLONEL  GEORGE  EOGEBS  CLARK  :  You 
are  to  proceed,  without  loss  of  time,  to  enlist  seven 
companies  of  men,  officered  in  the  usual  manner,  to 
act  as  militia  under  your  own  orders.  They  are  to 
proceed  to  Kentucky,  and  there  to  obey  such  orders 
and  directions  as  you  shall  give  them  for  three 
months  after  their  arrival  at  that  place;  but  to 
receive  pay,  etc.,  in  case  they  remain  on  duty  a  lon 
ger  time. 

"  You  are  empowered  to  raise  these  men  in  any 
county  in  the  commonwealth  ;  and  the  county  lieu 
tenants,  respectively,  are  requested  to  give  all  pos 
sible  assistance  in  that  business. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  at  Williamsburgh,  Janu 
ary  2,  1778. 

"P.  HENRY." 

In  addition  to  these  instructions,  Colonel  Clark 
was  ordered  verbally,  in  case  of  success,  to  carry  his 
arms  to  any  quarter  he  pleased.  He  left  Williams- 
burgh  January  18,  1778,  having  advanced  £150  to 

the  result  of  your  expedition  to  the  Wabash  ;  it  will,  at  least,  delay  their 
expedition  to  the  frontier  settlement,  and  if  successful,  have  an  important 
bearing  ultimately  in  establishing  our  northwestern  boundary. 
"  I  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient, 

"  TH.  JEFFEKSON." 

This  plainly  shows  the  importance  attached  to  the  actual  occupation  of 
the  Northwest  in  establishing  the  western  boundary,  as  against  Great 
Britain,  whenever  peace  should  be  made.  As  Mr.  Jefferson  was  taken 
into  the  counsels  of  Governor  Henry  while  planning  this  expedition,  this 
letter  throws  a  strong  light  upon  the  motives  leading  to  it,  which  were 
not  simply  the  protection  of  Kentucky. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     589 

Major  William  Smith  to  recruit  men  on  the  Hols- 
ton,  with  orders  to  meet  him  in  Kentucky.  Captain 
Leonard  Helm,  of  Fauquier,  and  Captain  Joseph 
Bowman,  of  Frederick,  each  promised  to  raise  a  com 
pany,  and  meet  him  in  February  at  Redstone  Old 
Fort.1  Clark  himself  went  into  West  Augusta  and 
to  Pittsburgh,  contracting  for  stores  and  appointing 
recruiting  officers,  among  whom  he  mentions  Cap 
tain  William  Harrod.  He  soon  found  that  many 
men  of  influence  were  exerting  themselves  to  pre 
vent  the  recruiting  of  his  little  army,  not  knowing 
its  destination,  but  believing  his  design  to  be  to 
carry  his  men  into  Kentucky.  Captain  Helm's 
authority  was  questioned,  and  he  was  so  impeded 
thereby  that  he  was  forced  to  send  to  the  Governor  to 
get  his  conduct  ratified.  Clark  found  strong  oppo 
sition  in  the  country  around  Pittsburgh,  where  the 
inhabitants  were  divided  betweeD  Virginia  and 
Pennsylvania  on  the  question  of  boundary.  The 
lower  class  of  the  Pennsylvania  party  were  unwill 
ing  to  enlist  at  the  call  of  Virginia,  and  the  better 
class  of  both  parties  were  unwilling  to  furnish  men 
for  the  defence  of  Kentucky,  while  their  own  fron 
tier  was  so  constantly  troubled  by  the  Indians. 
Clark  was  soon  convinced  that  he  would  not  be  able 
to  raise  the  whole  force  he  desired,  without  which 
he  despaired  of  carrying  out  his  design  of  finally 
attacking  Detroit.  He  says  :  "  I  found  my  case 
desperate,  the  longer  I  remained  the  worse  it  was. 
I  plainly  saw  that  my  principal  design  was  baffled,  I 
was  resolved  to  push  to  Kentucky  with  what  men 
I  could  gather  in  West  Augusta ;  being  joined  by 
Captains  Bowman  and  Helm,  who  had  each  raised 

1  Now  Brownsville,  on  the  Monongahela. 


590  PATRICK   HENRY. 

a  company  for  the  expedition,  but  two-thirds  of 
them  was  stopt  by  the  undesigned  enemies  to 
the  country  that  I  before  mentioned.  On  the 
whole  I  had  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  col 
lected  and  set  sail  for  the  Falls.  I  had  previous  to 
this  received  letters  from  Captain  Smith  on  Holds- 
ton  informing  me  that  he  intended  to  meet  me  at 
that  place  with  near  two  hundred  men,  which  en 
couraged  me  much,  as  I  was  in  hopes  of  being  en 
abled  by  that  reinforcement,  at  least  to  attack  the 
Illinois  with  a  probability  of  success,  <fec."  On 
May  12,  he  set  out  from  Redstone,  and  taking  in 
his  stores  at  Pittsburgh  and  Wheeling,  he  proceeded 
with  caution  down  the  river.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
Kanawha,  Captain  Harrod's  company  joined  him. 
His  officers  had  been  able  to  recruit  only  those  who 
had  friends  in  Kentucky,  or  who  desired  to  see  that 
country,  and  with  these  there  went  a  number  of 
families  and  private  adventurers.  Expresses  were 
sent  to  Kentucky  to  direct  Captain  Smith  to  join 
him  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio.  Upon  arriving  at 
that  point,  Clark  encamped  upon  a  small  island  in 
the  middle  of  the  falls.  Here  he  was  joined,  not  by 
Captain  Smith  with  four  companies,  but  by  Captain 
Dillard  with  only  a  part  of  a  company,  the  balance 
of  the  force  he  had  confidently  expected  with  Cap 
tain  Smith  having  been  prevented  from  marching 
by  the  opposition  of  the  communities  in  which  they 
lived.  He  was  glad  to  welcome  here  Colonel  Mont 
gomery  with  some  Kentuckians,  though  few  in 
number.  Clark  now  set  a  strict  guard  upon  the 
boats,  to  prevent  desertions,  and  commenced  to  dis 
cipline  his  little  force.  When  he  informed  his  men 
of  their  destination,  Lieutenant  Hutchings,  of  Dil- 


GOVERNOR  OF   VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     591 

lard's  company,  asked  leave  to  return,  and  being  re 
fused,  deserted  with  his  men.  A  few  of  the  desert 
ers  were  taken  next  day.  The  rest  of  Clark's  men 
consented  to  follow  him,  and  on  June  24,  with  the 
sun  in  total  eclipse,  he  left  the  Falls,  and  the  fami 
lies  that  had  accompanied  him  thus  far,1  and 
dropped  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee,  where 
they  captured  a  boatload  of  hunters  who  were 
only  eight  days  from  Kaskaskia.  From  these  he 
learned  all  that  he  desired  about  the  post.  He  had 
been  greatly  encouraged  by  a  letter  from  Colonel 
Campbell,  written  from  Pittsburgh,  informing  him 
of  the  treaty  between  France  and  America,  but 
still  his  situation  was  enough  to  discourage  any  one 
of  a  less  heroic  temper.  He  had  only  four  compa 
nies,  commanded  by  Captains  John  Montgomery,  Jo 
seph  Bowman,  Leonard  Helm,  and  William  Harrod, 
and  with  these  he  was  about  to  march  to  attack  a 
fort  garrisoned  by  trained  soldiers,  and  through  a 
country  filled  with  hostile  tribes  of  Indians.  In  case 
of  defeat  he  must  either  escape  across  the  Mississippi, 
or  perish,  as  he  would  be  more  than  one  hundred  miles 
from  the  Kentucky  settlements.  He  was  nothing 
daunted,  however.  Leaving  the  river  he  plunged  with 
his  brave  men  into  the  wilderness,  led  by  a  guide 
whose  life  was  the  pledge  of  his  good  faith.  The 
party  had  a  scant  commissary,  as  they  found  but  little 
game.  On  July  4,  1778,  they  arrived  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  fort,  and  prepared  to  take  it  by  surprise. 
A  soldier  from  the  garrison,  who  was  hunting,  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  at  night,  under  his  guidance, 
Clark,  with  a  part  of  his  command,  entered  the  fort 
by  a  postern  gate  left  open  on  the  river  side.  The  rest 

1  They  moved  to  the  mainland  and  commenced  the  city  of  Louisville. 


592  PATRICK  HENRY. 

of  the  command  surrounded  the  town,  and  both  town 
and  fort  were  taken  possession  of  without  a  drop  of 
bloodshed.  M.  Rochblave,  the  commandant,  was 
captured  in  the  fort.  Among  his  papers  were  his 
instructions  to  stir  up  Indian  wars  and  give  rewards 
for  scalps.1  There  being  a  large  admixture  of 
French  in  the  town,  Clark  soon  won  them  to  the 
American  cause,  which  their  king  had  embraced. 
Among  those  who  were  his  firmest  friends  was 
Pierre  Gibault,  a  Catholic  priest,  who  had  lately 
come  from  Canada,  and  who  proved  to  be  of  the 
greatest  advantage  to  him.  In  a  few  days  Cohokia, 
about  sixty  miles  up  the  Mississippi,  was  in  the 
possession  of  the  Virginians,  the  inhabitants  having 
been  won  over  through  the  aid  of  some  of  the 
French  from  Kaskaskia. 

Clark  next  laid  his  plans  for  an  attack  upon  the 
post  at  St.  Vincent's,  on  the  Wabash  River.  The 
priest  however  begged  to  be  permitted  to  visit  that 
place,  promising  to  win  it  over.  Taking  with  him 
some  Frenchmen,  and  a  proclamation  from  Clark,  he 
in  a  few  days  reported  complete  success,  and  the 
Virginians  soon  occupied  that  important  post. 
Finding  himself  in  possession  of  the  important 
British  forts  other  than  Detroit,  Clark  next  turned 
his  attention  to  the  native  tribes,  and  showed  him 
self  to  be  a  master  of  Indian  diplomacy.  He  dealt 
in  no  soft  speeches,  and  always  waited  for  them  to 
make  the  first  advance  toward  treaties  of  peace. 
He  prepared  an  admirable  address,  in  Indian  style, 
explaining  the  causes  of  the  American  struggle ;  in 
it  he  boldy  told  the  Indians  that  the  "  Big  Knives  " 
were  ready  for  peace  or  war,  and  invited  them  to 

'Letter  of  Captain  Joseph  Bowman,  Almon's  Remembrancer,  viii.,  82. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     593 

take  their  choice.  This,  with  his  capture  of  the 
British  forts,  had  a  wonderful  effect,  and  thirteen 
tribes  sued  for  peace.1  Clark  now  found  himself 
straitened  for  men  to  hold  his  conquests.  The 
time  for  which  his  little  army  had  enlisted  was 
about  to  expire,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  men 
were  for  returning  home.  By  liberal  presents  and 
promises  he  prevailed  upon  about  one  hundred  to 
remain  with  him  for  eight  months  longer,  and  he 
filled  the  places  of  those  returning  with  French 
recruits,  as  far  as  possible.  He  stationed  Captain 
Bowman  at  Cohokia  and  Captain  Helm  at  St.  Vin 
cents,  each  with  a  small  force.  With  the  returning 
soldiers  he  sent  Rochblave  a  prisoner,  in  charge  of 
Captain  John  Montgomery,  and  letters  from  himself 
and  Captain  Helm  to  the  Governor  which  gave  in 
formation  of  his  great  success,  and  of  the  taking  of 
the  oath  of  allegiance  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
captured  towns.  Captain  William  Linn  was  or 
dered  to  return  also,  and  to  establish  a  fort  at  the 
Falls  of  the  Ohio. 

The  letters  reached  Williamsburg  November  16, 
1778,  and  the  Governor  on  the  same  day  communi 
cated  their  contents  to  the  Assembly,  and  to  the 
Virginia  delegates  in  Congress.  In  his  letter  to  the 
latter  he  offered  to  order  Colonel  Clark  to  co 
operate  with  any  expedition  which  Congress  might 
send  into  the  western  country.  He  added  :  "  Were 
it  possible  to  secure  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  prevent 
the  English  attempts  up  that  river  by  seizing  some 
post  on  it,  peace  with  the  Indians  would  seem  to  me 
to  be  secured." 

1  See  Butler's  History  of  Kentucky  for  full  account  of  Clark's  negotia 
tions  with  the  Indians. 


594  PATRICK   HENRY. 

The  Assembly  voted  a  resolution  of  thanks  to 
Colonel  Clark  and  his  brave  men,  and  took  measures 
to  secure  the  fruits  of  their  heroism.  An  act  was 
passed  establishing  the  county  of  Illinois,  to  embrace 
the  territory  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  Governor  was  directed  to  appoint  a  Lieu 
tenant,  or  Commandant-in-chief  for  the  county,  and 
to  raise  a  force  of  five  hundred  men  to  serve  within 
it.1  He  was  also  directed  to  take  steps  for  the 
establishment  of  trade  between  that  country  and 
New  Orleans. 

On  December  12,  1778,  Governor  Henry  ap 
pointed  Colonel  John  Todd,2  of  Kentucky,  Lieuten 
ant  of  the  new  county ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  John 
Montgomery  was  directed  to  superintend  the  recruit 
ing  of  five  new  companies,  Captain  Isaac  Shelby  to 
procure  the  necessary  boats  to  transport  the  troops 
down  the  Cherokee  River,  and  James  Buchanan  to 
provide  the  provisions  needed  for  them.  Governor 
Henry  prepared  the  instructions  to  Colonels  Clark, 
Todd,  and  Montgomery.  Happily  these  papers 
were  spread  upon  the  journal,  and  are  thus  pre 
served  to  us.3  No  one  can  read  them  without  being 
impressed  with  the  statesmanship  of  the  author. 

In  the  meanwhile  Clark's  situation  became  criti 
cal.  The  abandonment  by  General  Mclntosh  of 
his  expedition  against  Detroit,  left  Governor  Ham 
ilton  free  to  attempt  the  recovery  of  his  lost  forts. 
With  a  force  estimated  at  from  five  to  eight  him 
dred  men,  mostly  Indians  from  the  Six  Nations,  he 
descended  the  Wabash  and  recaptured  St.  Vincents 

1  Hening's  Statutes  at  Large,  ix.,  552. 

2  Colonel  Todd  was  the  nephew  of  Reverend  John   Todd,  of  Louisa 
County,  Va.,  and  was  educated  by  him. 

3  See  post,  vol.  iii.,  208-218. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     595 

December  15.  He  then  despatched  a  part  of  his 
force  to  Kaskaskia  with  orders  to  capture  Clark, 
but  they  found  him  too  strong  to  attempt  it  and  re 
turned.  On  January  29,  1779,  Colonel  Francis 
Vigo,  a  Spanish  merchant  at  St.  Louis,  who  had 
visited  St.  Vincents  at  the  instance  of  Clark,  re 
turned  with  accurate  information  as  to  Hamilton's 
force  and  plans.  From  him  Clark  learned  that 
Hamilton  had  abandoned  the  idea  of  attacking 
him  during  the  winter,  but  he  was  fortifying  him 
self  and  preparing  for  operations  on  a  large  scale  so 
soon  as  the  season  permitted.  His  plans  included 
not  only  the  driving  of  Clark  from  the  Illinois 
country,  but  the  destruction  of  the  Kentucky  set 
tlements,  and  of  all  those  west  of  the  Alleghanies 
in  Virginia,  up  to  Pittsburgh.  He  was  relying  on 
an  additional  force  of  seven  hundred  Indians,  which 
would  make  his  army  about  fifteen  hundred  strong, 
and  was  provided  with  all  necessary  arms,  including 
light  cannon. 

In  the  meanwhile  he  had  sent  out  his  Indian  al 
lies  to  make  war  on  the  frontier  and  block  up  the 
Ohio,  and  had  only  eighty  men  with  him  at  St. 
Vincents.  Clark  had  heard  not  a  word  from  Vir 
ginia  since  he  left  it,  and  could  not  rely  on  rein 
forcements  from  that  quarter,  as  he  did  not  even 
know  whether  his  express  had  gotten  safely  through 
to  Williamsburg.  With  true  genius  he  saw  that 
his  safety  depended  upon  his  attacking  Hamilton 
while  his  Indians  were  away,  and  he  at  once  deter 
mined  upon  what,  under  the  circumstances,  seemed  a 
desperate  venture.  On  February  3,  1779,  the  day 
after  Vigo's  return  to  Kaskaskia,  Clark  wrote 
Governor  Henry  of  his  situation  and  added :  "  I 


596  PATRICK  HENRY. 

shall  set  out  in  a  few  days  with  all  the  force  I  can 
raise  of  my  own  troops  and  a  few  militia  that  I  can 
depend  on,  amounting  in  the  whole  to  only  one 
hundred  and  seventy  men,  part  of  which  go  on 
board  a  small  Galley  mounting  two  four-pounders, 
and  four  large  swivels,  one  nine-pounder,  on  board. 
This  boat  is  to  make  her  way  good  if  possible,  and 
take  her  station  ten  leagues  below  St.  Vincents  un 
til  further  orders.  If  I  am  defeated  she  is  to  join 
Colonel  Rogers  on  the  Mississippi.  She  has  great 
stores  of  ammunition  on  board,  commanded  by  Lt. 
John  Rogers.  I  shall  march  across  by  land  myself 
with  the  rest  of  my  boys.  The  principal  persons 
that  follow  me  on  this  forlorn  hope  are  Captains 
Joseph  Bowman,  John  Williams,  Edw  Worthing, 
Richd  McCarty  and  Fran8  Charloville— Lieu*  Richd 
Brashear,  Wm  Kellar,  Abm  Chaplin,  Jno.  Jerault 
and  Jno.  Bayley,  and  several  brave  subalterns. 
You  must  be  sensible  of  the  feeling  I  have  for  those 
brave  officers  and  soldiers  that  are  willing  to  share 
my  fate  let  it  be  what  it  will.  I  know  the  case  is 
desperate,  but  sir,  we  must  either  quit  the  country 
or  attack  Mr.  Hamilton,  no  time  is  to  be  lost.  Were 
I  sure  of  reinforcements,  I  should  not  attempt  it. 
Who  knows  what  fortune  will  do  for  us.  Great 
things  have  been  effected  by  a  few  men  well  con 
ducted.  Perhaps  we  may  be  fortunate.  We  have 
this  consolation,  that  our  cause  is  just,  and  that  our 
country  will  be  grateful  and  not  condemn  our  con 
duct  in  case  we  fall  through.  If  so  this  country  as 
well  as  Kentucky  I  believe  is  lost.  .  .  .  The 
expresses  that  you  have  sent  I  -expect  have  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  Governor  Hamilton.7' l 

1  Post,  vol.  iii.,  220. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     597 

Never  were  a  few  men  better  conducted,  or 
greater  things  effected  by  them. 

On  February  7,  he  commenced  his  desperate  march 
of  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  across  a  wilderness 
filled  with  swollen  streams,  with  a  command  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  men.  So  great  were  the  difficul 
ties  of  this  celebrated  march,  that  sixteen  days  were 
consumed  in  making  it.  The  country  is  flat,  and 
heavy  rains  had  flooded  it.  On  February  17,  they 
reached  the  Embarras  River,  at  a  point  nine  miles 
from  St.  Vincents.  They  had  to  cross  this  and  the 
Wabash  to  reach  their  destination,  and  every  foot 
of  the  way  was  covered  with  deep  water.  Finding 
it  impossible  to  cross  the  Embarras,  they  marched 
down  its  bank  to  the  Wabash,  at  which  point  they 
were  ten  miles  from  St.  Vincents  with  the  way  still 
under  water.  They  had  hoped  to  meet  their  galley 
here,  but  were  disappointed,  and  their  provisions 
were  exhausted.  In  writing  to  Colonel  Mason  of 
what  followed  Clark  says  :  "  If  I  were  sensible  that 
you  would  let  no  person  see  this  relation,  I  would 
give  you  a  detail  of  our  suffering  for  four  days  in 
crossing  those  waters,  and  the  manner  it  was  done, 
as  I  am  sure  that  you  would  credit  it ;  but  it  is  too 
incredible  for  any  person  to  believe  except  those  that 
are  as  well  acquainted  with  me  as  you  are,  or  had 
experienced  something  similar  to  it/7  What  he  hesi 
tated  to  relate  is  furnished  in  part  by  the  journal 
of  Captain  Joseph  Bowman,1  from  which  we  extract 
the  following : 

"  18th  (February).     At  break  of  day  heard  Gov. 
Hamilton's   morning    gun.     Set   off   and   marched 

1  Appendix  B,  Clark's  Campaign  in  the  Illinois. 


598  PATRICK  HENRY. 

down  the  river.  Saw  some  fine  land.  About  two 
o'clock  came  to  the  bank  of  the  Wabash ;  made 
rafts  for  four  men  to  cross  and  go  up  to  town  and 
steal  boats.  Bat  they  spent  day  and  night  in  the 
water  to  no  purpose,  for  there  was  not  one  foot  of 
dry  land  to  be  found. 

"  19th.  Capt  McCarty's  company  set  to  making  a 
canoe ;  and  at  3  oclock  the  four  men  returned  after 
spending  the  night  on  some  old  logs  in  the  water. 
The  canoe  finished,  Capt.  McCarty  with  three  of  his 
men  embarked  in  the  canoe  and  made  the  third  at 
tempt  to  steal  boats.  But  he  soon  returned,  having 
discovered  four  large  fires  about  a  league  distant 
from  our  camp,  which  seemed  to  him  to  be  fires  of 
whites  and  Indians.  Immediately  Col  Clark  sent 
two  men  in  the  canoe,  down  to  meet  the  batteau,  with 
orders  to  come  on  day  and  night ;  that  being  our 
last  hope,  and  we  starving.  Many  of  the  men  much 
cast  down,  particularly  the  volunteers.  No  pro 
visions  of  any  sort,  now  two  days.  Hard  fortune  ! 

"  20th.  Camp  very  quiet  but  hungry ;  some  al 
most  in  despair;  many  of  the  Creole  volunteers  talk 
ing  of  returning.  Fell  to  making  more  canoes,  when, 
about  12  oclock,  our  centry  on  the  river  brought  to 
a  boat  with  five  Frenchmen  from  the  post  who  told 
us  we  were  not  as  yet  discovered,  that  the  inhabi 
tants  were  well  disposed  towards  us,  <fec.  Capt. 
Willing's  brother,  who  was  taken  in  the  fort,  had 
made  his  escape  to  us.  And  that  one  Madisonville 
with  a  party  of  Indians,  were  then  seven  days  in 
pursuit  of  him,  with  much  news, — more  news  to 
our  favor,  such  as  repairs  done  the  fort,  the  strength, 
<fec.,  <fec.  They  informed  us  of  two  canoes  they  had 
adrift  some  distance  above  us.  Ordered  that  Capt 
Worthington,  with  a  party,  go  in  search  of  them. 
Keturned  late  with  one  only.  One  of  our  men 
killed  a  deer  which  was  brought  into  our  camp. 
Very  acceptable. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     599 

"  21st.  At  break  of  day  began  to  ferry  our  men 
over  in  our  two  canoes  to  a  small  hill  called  the 
Momib  or  Bubbriss  ;  Capt  Williams,  with  two  men, 
went  to  look  for  a  passage  and  were  discovered  by 
two  men  in  a  canoe,  but  could  not  fetch  them  to. 
The  whole  army  being  over,  he  thought  to  get  to 
town  that  night,  so  plunged  into  the  water  some 
times  to  the  neck,  for  more  than  one  league,  when 
we  stopped  on  the  next  hill  of  the  same  name,  there 
being  no  dry  land  on  any  side  for  many  leagues. 
Our  pilots  say  we  cannot  get  along,  that  it  is  im 
possible.  The  whole  army  being  over  we  encamped. 
Rain  all  this  day — no  provisions. 

"  22d.  Col.  Clark  encourages  his  men,  which 
gave  them  great  spirits.  Marched  on  in  the  waters. 
Those  that  were  weak  and  famished  from  so  much 
fatigue,  went  in  the  canoes.  We  came  one  league 
farther  to  some  sugar  camps,  where  we  stayed  all 
night.  Heard  the  evening  and  morning  guns  from 
the  fort.  No  provisions  yet.  Lord  help  us  ! 

"  23d.  Set  off  to  cross  the  plain  called  Horse 
shoe  Plain,  about  four  miles  long,  all  covered  with 
water  breast  high.  Here  we  expected  some  of  our 
brave  men  must  certainly  perish,  having  froze  in  the 
night,  and  so  long  fasting.  Having  no  other  re 
source  but  wading  this  plain  or  rather  lake,  of  wat 
ers,  we  plunged  into  it  with  courage,  Col.  Clark,  be 
ing  first,  taking  care  to  have  the  boats  take  those 
that  were  weak  and  numbed  with  cold  into  them. 
Never  were  men  so  animated  with  the  thought  of 
avenging  the  wrongs  done  to  their  back  settlements, 
as  this  small  army  was. 

"  About  one  o'clock  we  came  in  sight  of  the  town." 

Clark  sent  a  letter  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town, 
asking  them  if  friendly  to  keep  their  houses,  and  if 
unfriendly  to  repair  to  the  fort,  which  he  would  at 
tack  at  once.  No  resistance  was  made  in  the  town, 


600  PATRICK  HENRY. 

and  the  fort  was  taken  so  completely  by  surprise 
that  the  garrison  did  not  realize  that  an  enemy  was 
near,  until  a  man  was  wounded  by  a  shot  through  a 
port-hole.  On  the  next  day,  February  24,  the  fort 
surrendered  after  standing  a  constant  firing  for 
twenty  hours.  On  the  day  following  Clark  de 
spatched  a  force  of  sixty  men  up  the  river  to  inter 
cept  a  party  in  charge  of  stores  which  Hamilton 
was  expecting.  They  captured  forty  men,  among 
whom  was  Philip  Dejean,  Grand  Judge  of  De 
troit,  and  with  them  seven  boatloads  of  provisions 
and  stores.  On  the  27th  the  galley  arrived  with 
William  Morris,  the  express  from  Willianasburg, 
who  had  been  taken  up  on  the  way,  and  whose  de 
spatches  with  the  action  of  the  Assembly  on  hearing 
of  Clark's  first  successes,  gave  great  joy. 

Clark  now  found  himself  with  almost  as  many 
prisoners  as  he  had  men.  He  discharged  the 
greater  part  of  them  on  parole,  holding  the  princi 
pal  officers  and  those  who  had  been  in  Indian  raids. 
On  March  7,  he  sent  Captain  Williams,  with  twenty- 
four  men,  to  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  in  charge  of 
Lieutenant  Hamilton,  Major  Hays,  Captain  La- 
mothe,  Monsieur  Dejean,  Lieutenant  Shifflin,  Dr. 
McBeth,  Francis  McVille,  Bell  Fenilb,  and  eighteen 
privates.  These  prisoners  were  to  be  forwarded  to 
the  Governor.  The  atrocities  of  Hamilton  had 
been  so  great  that  Hamilton,  Dejean,  and  Lamothe 
were  put  in  irons  by  way  of  retaliation,  under  an 
order  of  Council,  June  16,  1779. 

Clark  was  eager  to  march  at  once  upon  Detroit, 
but  he  had  so  small  a  force,  and  felt  so  sure  that  he 
would  be  better  prepared  later,  when  the  battalion 
promised  by  the  letter  of  Governor  Henry,  and  the 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     601 

recruits  expected  from  Kentucky  should  arrive, 
that  he  determined  to  wait  for  them.  He  there 
fore  contented  himself  with  making  treaties  with 
the  tribes  near  St.  Vincents  who  had  not  previ 
ously  been  friendly,  and  on  March  20,  1779,  set 
out  for  Kaskaskia  by  water,  with  a  guard  of  eighty 
men,  leaving  Captain  Helm  in  command  of  the 
town. 

On  his  return  he  found  Captain  Robert  George 
had  arrived  with  the  company  lately  commanded 
by  Captain  James  Willing,  which  had  left  Pitts 
burgh  in  January,  and  proceeded  down  the  river  to 
New  Orleans.  Returning  they  had  captured  Bayou 
Manchac  and  Nachez,  and  laid  waste  the  country 
adjacent.1  Captain  Willing  was  from  Philadelphia, 
and  his  .men  were  probably  all  Pennsylvanians, 
some  doubtless  from  the  disputed  territory  around 
Pittsburg.  They  joined  Clark  after  he  had  closed 
his  brilliant  campaign  in  the  Illinois  country,  and 
therefore  had  no  share  in  it,  as  has  been  sometimes 
claimed. 

Clark  now  gladly  turned  over  to  Colonel  Todd 
the  civil  department  of  the  country,  and  set  to  work 
preparing  for  an  expedition  against  Detroit.  He 
wrote  to  Colonel  John  Bowman,  commanding  the 
militia  of  Kentucky,  and  to  Colonel  Montgomery 
to  join  him  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  with  the 
men  they  had  raised,  and  hearing  that  his  trusty 
express,  William  Morris,  had  been  killed  by  the 
Indians,  he  wrote  a  second  letter  to  Governor 
Henry,  dated  April  29,  1779,  giving  the  particulars 
of  his  recapture  of  St.  Vincents  and  stating  his 
plans.  This  most  interesting  letter  happily  got  to 

1  Martin's  History  of  Louisiana,  ch.  iii. 


602  PATRICK  HENRY. 

its  destination,  though  after  Governor  Henry's  term 
had  expired,  and  has  been  preserved.1 

But  Clark  was  doomed  to  another  bitter  disap 
pointment.  Captain  George  was  soon  ordered  to 
Pittsburg  and  left  him,2  Colonel  Montgomery 
brought  him  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and 
Colonel  Bowman  disappointed  him  altogether.  In 
stead  of  marching  to  St.  Vincents  as  directed  by 
Clark,  he  determined  on  an  expedition  against  the 
Indian  town  at  Old  Chilicothe,  on  the  Miami. 
Finding  himself  opposed  by  the  noted  Simon  Girty 
at  the  head  of  a  considerable  body  of  Indians,  he 
deemed  it  best  to  retreat  after  having  inflicted  some 
injury  on  the  enemy.  On  the  retreat  he  was  over 
taken  and  defeated  in  battle,  and  his  men  were  so 
discouraged  that  no  attempt  was  made  to  carry 
them  to  Clark.3  Detroit  in  the  meanwhile  had 
been  greatly  strengthened  in  expectation  of  an  at 
tack,  and  Clark  was  forced  to  let  another  season 
pass  without  attempting  its  capture.  He  how 
ever  established  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
calling  it  Fort  Jefferson. 

This  expedition  to  the  Illinois,  sent  out  by  Gov 
ernor  Henry,  and  so  brilliantly  conducted,  won  for 
Clark  the  title  of  the  "  Hannibal  of  the  West."  4  In 
that  genius  which  stops  at  no  obstacle  that  nature 
may  offer,  and  rises  superior  to  every  emergency, 
the  Virginia  soldier  may  well  be  compared  to  the 
Carthaginian.  But  in  the  results  of  their  campaigns 
Clark  has  infinitely  the  advantage.  Hannibal  was 
forced  to  leave  his  conquests  in  Italy  to  defend  his 

1  See  Jefferson's  Works,  vol.  i.,  222. 

*  Pennsylvania  Archives,  Appendix,  142-3. 

3  Clark's  Campaign  in  the  Illinois,  86.     Butler's  Kentucky,  108. 

4  Given  Clark  by  John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke. 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     603 

own  country  against  the  foe  he  had  infuriated,  but 
not  subdued,  and  the  Roman  cry  Carthago  delenda 
est,  which  he  aroused,  never  ceased  till  Carthage 
was  destroyed.  Clark,  on  the  contrary,  secured  a 
magnificent  empire  to  his  country.1 

In  remembering  the  men  to  whom  Virginia  was 
indebted  for  the  success  of  this  most  important  ex 
pedition,  one  name  deserves  the  highest  honor. 
It  is  that  of  Oliver  Pollock,  the  agent  of  the  State 
at  New  Orleans,  who  furnished  the  money  which 
enabled  Clark  to  complete  and  to  hold  his  con 
quests.  Pollock  was  born  in  Ireland,  but  emi 
grated  to  Carlisle,  Pa.,  when  a  young  man.  Re 
moving  afterward  to  Cuba  to  engage  in  mercantile 
pursuits,  he  was  drawn  into  intimate  relations  with 
Don  Alexander  O'Reily,  the  Governor- General 
of  the  Island.  Upon  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to 
Spain  by  France,  he  settled  in  New  Orleans,  and 
soon  accumulated  a  large  fortune  by  his  enterprise 
and  skill  as  a  merchant.  His  high  character  won 
for  him  the  regard  of  the  community,  and  when 
Don  Bernardo  de  Galvez  was  appointed  Governor 
of  Louisiana,  he  gave  him  his  entire  confidence.  In 
June,  1777,  the  secret  Committee  of  Congress  ap 
pointed  him  commercial  agent  at  New  Orleans. 
Previous  to  this  appointment,  when  Colonel  Gibson 
visited  that  place  in  1775,  he  rendered  him  all  the 
aid  in  his  power,  and  wrote  the  following  letter  by 
him  to  the  president  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  of 
Virginia. 

"  Sir :  This  will  be  handed  you  by  Capn  George 
Gibson,  whom  I  have  supplied  with  sundries,  and 

1  See  Introduction  of  Henry  Pirtle  to  Clark's  Campaign  in  the  Illinois. 


604  PATRICK  HENRY. 

to  whom  I  beg  leave  to  refer  you  for  particulars. 
As  I  conceive  myself  to  be  too  much  interested  in 
everything  that  concerns  America  (notwithstanding 
my  present  situation  is  remote  from  the  scene  of 
action)  to  let  slip  any  opportunity  of  exerting  my 
utmost  endeavors  for  the  good  of  the  cause.  Per 
mit  me  therefore  to  make  tender  of  my  hearty  ser 
vices,  and  to  assure  you  that  my  conduct  shall  be 
ever  such  as  to  merit  confidence  and  approbation  of 
that  country  to  which  I  owe  everything  but  my  birth. 
"  I  have  the  Honour  to  be  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  and 
very  humble  servant, 

«  OLE  POLLOCK." 

"  To  THE  HON'BLE,  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  GRAND 

COUNCIL  OP  SAFETY  OF  THE  COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA." 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter  he  was  requested 
to  act  as  commercial  agent  for  the  State,  and  when 
Colonel  Clark  was  sent  northwest  he  was  authorized 
by  Governor  Henry  to  draw  on  him  for  the  money 
he  might  need  during  the  expedition.  It  was  soon 
found  by  Clark  that  continental  money  was  value 
less  in  the  country  he  was  in,  and  he  commenced 
making  drafts  on  Pollock,  which  in  a  short  while 
reached  $52,161.  These  were  met  by  him,  though 
the  State  had  been  unable  to  supply  him  with  the 
means.  The  tobacco  upon  which  it  relied  as  a  basis 
of  credit,  was  blockaded  in  the  Chesapeake,  and  was 
afterward  destroyed  by  the  British.  Pollock,  with 
the  enthusiasm,  of  his  race,  risked  his  entire  fortune 
in  his  advances  for  Virginia  and  the  United  States, 
for  which  he  was  also  agent,  and  before  they  could 
reimburse  him  became  greatly  straitened  in  his  cir 
cumstances.1  A  report  of  Jerman  Baker  and  W. 

1  For  an  admirable  sketch  of  Oliver  Pollock,  I  am  indebted  to  Rev. 
Horace  Edwin  Hayden,  in  his  Pollock  Genealogy. 


GOVERNOR   OF   VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     605 

Alexander,  commissioners  appointed  to  settle  the 
claims  of  Pollock  against  the  State,  was  made 
December  18,  1785,  in  which  the  balance  due  was 
stated  to  be  "  ninety-two  thousand  three  hundred 
twenty-one  dollars  three  bits  and  one-half  in 
specie,  including  interest  until  December  1,  1785." 
The  Commissioners  recommend  to  the  Assembly 
the  consideration  of  the  justice  of  remunerating 
him,  in  addition  to  paying  this  amount,  for  the 
damages  sustained  in  the  ruin  of  his  fortune, 
and  the  distress  to  his  family,  because  of  the  pro 
test  of  his  bills  drawn  on  Penet  &  Co.,  commercial 
agents  of  the  State  in  France.  And  in  support  of 
his  meritorious  claims,  they  add  :  "  General  Clark 
certifies  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Pollock  from  New  York, 
that  the  advances  made  him  by  Mr.  Pollock  were 
very  essential  in  enabling  him  to  preserve  the  con 
quests  he  had  made,  and  General  Galvez,  now  vice 
roy  of  Mexico,  not  only  places  Mr.  Pollock  in  a 
very  honorable  point  of  view,  but  also  points  out, 
in  some  measure,  how  Mr.  Pollock  was  enabled  to 
make  such  considerable  advances  to  this  and  to  the 
United  States.'-  * 

The  name  of  Oliver  Pollock  must  therefore  be 
forever  linked  with  that  of  George  Rogers  Clark  in 
our  grateful  remembrance  of  those  who  secured  us 
the  great  Northwest. 

1  MS.  Report  to  Governor  in  Legislative  Papers. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

GOVERNOK  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND  TERM.— 1778. 

Expedition  of  Colonel  David  Rogers  to  the  Lower  Mississippi. — 
Stores  sent  by  Spain  to  New  Orleans  for  Virginia. — Instructions 
to  Colonel  Rogers.— Experiences  of  Colonel  Rogers  and  his 
Men. — Disturbances  in  Virginia  by  Tories. — Josiah  Phillips  and 
his  Band. — Action  of  Governor  Henry  and  of  the  Legislature 
in  Reference  to  Them.— British  and  Quaker  Prisoners  sent  to 
Virginia. — Foreign  Officers  Seeking  Employment. — The  Gover 
nor  Obtains  Munitions  of  War  and  Loans  from  Europe. — James 
Madison  in  the  Council. — Second  Marriage  of  Governor  Henry. 
— His  Estate. — His  Purchase  of  Lands  in  Henry  County. — Third 
Election  as  Governor. 

ABOUT  the  time  that  Clark  was  despatched  on  his 
expedition,  Governor  Henry  sent  a  company  of  men 
under  Colonel  David  Kogers,  the  Senator  from 
West  Augusta,  on  an  expedition  to  the  lower  Mis 
sissippi,  which,  though  meeting  with  final  disaster, 
is  worthy  to  be  remembered.  The  occasion  of  this 
expedition  is  found  in  the  following  entry  on  the 
Executive  journal  for  October  18,  1777  : 

"  The  Board  having  received  information  that 
sundry  stores  which  were  requested  some  time  ago 
by  the  Honourable  Committee  of  safety  from  the 
Court  of  Spain,  have  been  sent  from  Havanna  to 
New  Orleans,  and  are  now  stored  there,  and  wait 
the  orders  of  this  state ;  they  do  advise  the  Govern 
or  to  give  instructions  to  Rawleigh  Colsten,  Esquire, 
who  is  about  to  sail  for  Cape  Francois  as  agent  for 
this  state,  to  apply  to  the  Governor  of  New  Or- 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND  TERM.     607 

leans  for  the  same,  and  send  them  here  without  loss 
of  time ;  and  the  Governor  is  further  advised  to 
write  letters  to  the  Governors  of  Cuba  and  New  Or 
leans  acknowledging  the  obligations  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  Virginia  in  particular,  are 
under  to  his  Catholic  Magisty  for  this  mark  of  his 
good  will  towards  them.  And  his  excellency  hav 
ing  prepared  Letters  accordingly,  the  same  were 
read,  approved  of  &  ordered  to  be  recorded." 

This  entry  shows  that  Spain  was  secretly  aiding 
Virginia  before  France  recognized  American  inde 
pendence. 

The  goods  were  not  sent  to  Virginia  from  New 
Orleans  as  was  expected,  and  on  January  14,  1778, 
the  following  entry  appears  on  the  journal : 

"  His  Excellency  informed  the  Council  that  he 
had  prevailed  on  Colonel  David  Rogers  of  the  Sen 
ate,  to  convey  to  the  Governor  of  New  Orleans  by 
way  of  the  Mississippi,  a  letter  which  he  was  anx 
ious  to  send,  and  laying  the  same  before  them  it 
was  read  approved  of  and  ordered  to  be  recorded. 
His  Excellency  then  laid  before  the  council  the  fol 
lowing  instructions  to  Colonel  Rogers,  which  were 
also  approved  of,  viz. 

"Colonel  Rogers,  you  are  to  proceed  without  loss 
of  time  to  engage  a  Lieutenant,  Ensign,  and  twenty- 
eight  men,  on  double  pay,  and  with  them  you  are  to 
go  to  New  Orleans  with  Dispatches  to  the  Govern 
or  of  that  place.  I  expect  some  goods  are  to  be 
sent  from  thence  for  this  state  which  you  will  take 
under  your  Care,  and  safely  convey  home,  with 
answers  to  my  letters.  General  Hand  will  be  de 
sired  to  give  you  assistance  as  to  the  Boats  cfec. 
necessary  for  the  trip. 

"  I  desire  to  know  the  strength  of  the  English 


608  PATRICK   HENRY. 

possessions  on  Mississippi,  and  whether  they  supply 
the  West  Indies  with  any  and  what  articles.  The 
present  State,  Temper,  and  Condition  of  those  peo 
ple  must  be  gathered  by  such  means  as  will  not  en 
danger  discovery.  You  are  to  consider  of  a  proper 
place  to  fix  a  post  at  for  facilitating  and  securing 
the  trade  to  New  Orleans,  and  Consult  the  Spanish 
Governor  on  it. 

"  Describe  to  that  Gentleman  the  real  strength 
and  situation  of  Virginia,  the  progress  of  the  war, 
and  whatever  else  he  may  wish  to  know  of  the 
American  Confederacy.  You  are  to  convey  my  in 
structions  to  Colonel  Clark,  by  which  he  is  directed 
to  escort  you  homeward,  cfe  you  are  to  correspond 
with  me,  and  let  me  know  the  upshot  of  this  Busi 
ness  as  soon  as  possible." 

This  letter  shows  the  anxiety  of  Governor  Henry 
to  establish  a  military  post  which  would  command 
the  lower  Mississippi,  and  would  enable  the  United 
States  to  secure  the  navigation  of  that  river. 

Colonel  Rogers  raised  the  men  needed  for  his 
hazardous  undertaking,  and  dropped  down  the  river 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  then  called  the  Ozark. 
Running  his  boats  up  that  river  to  the  head  of  the 
back-water,  he  left  most  of  them  and  proceeded  with 
only  six  or  seven  men  to  New  Orleans.  Here  he 
found  a  British  sloop  of  war  in  the  port,  the  captain 
of  which  watched  him  so  closely  that  it  was  impos 
sible  to  accomplish  the  object  of  his  mission  at  that 
time,  although  Don  Bernard  de  Galvez,  the  governor, 
was  very  friendly  to  the  United  States.  Sorely 
perplexed,  Colonel  Rogers  determined  to  send  Cap 
tain  Robert  Benham,  who  was  with  him,  to  the 
Governor  of  Virginia  for  advice.  To  reach  Vir 
ginia  he  was  obliged  to  traverse  the  vast  tract  of 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     609 

country  on  the  west  of  the  Mississippi,  occupied 
by  the  Indians  and  Spaniards.  Benham,  with  the 
heroism  characteristic  of  the  times,  undertook  the 
journey,  subsisting  much  of  the  way  on  Indian 
corn  boiled  in  lye  to  save  it  from  the  weevil.  He 
reached  Kaskaskia  in  the  spring  of  1779,  where  he 
found  Clark  returned  from  his  successful  expedi 
tion  against  St. Vincents.  From  him  he  learned  that 
Colonel  Rogers  had  succeeded  in  evading  the  Brit 
ish,  and  had  brought  his  boats  laden  with  goods  up 
the  river  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Ohio,  where  he  was 
waiting,  under  orders  from  Clark,  for  the  result  of 
the  attack  upon  St.  Vincents.  Captain  Benham 
joined  Colonel  Rogers  soon  afterward  at  the  Falls 
of  the  Ohio,  and  they  proceeded  up  that  river  for 
Pittsburgh.  When  they  arrived  at  the  Sandbar 
above  the  present  city  of  Cincinnati,  they  discov 
ered  some  Indians  on  rafts  and  in  canoes  coming 
out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Miami,  which  was 
then  swollen.  Colonel  Rogers  ordered  his  men  to 
land  and  attack  them,  supposing  they  were  few  in 
number.  But  the  Virginians  had  proceeded  but  a 
short  distance  before  they  were  surrounded  by  five 
times  their  number,1  and  the  command  of  about  one 
hundred  men  was  almost  completely  annihilated, 
Colonel  Rogers  being  left  among  the  dead.  One  of 
the  boats  got  away,  and  with  two  men  aboard  re 
turned  to  the  Falls,  and  in  all  some  nine  or  ten  men 
escaped.  Among  these  was  Captain  Benham,  whose 
experience  was  most  thrilling.  He  broke  through 
the  enemy's  line,  but  was  soon  after  shot  through 
the  hips.  Fortunately  a  large  tree  had  lately 
fallen  near  the  spot  where  he  fell,  and  with  great 

1  The  Indians  were  commanded  by  the  infamous  Tory,  Simon  Girty. 


610  PATRICK  HENRY. 

pain  he  dragged  himself  into  the  top  and  concealed 
himself  among  the  branches.  The  Indians,  eager  in 
pursuit  of  the  others,  passed  him  without  notice,  and 
by  midnight  all  was  quiet.  On  the  next  day,  how 
ever,  they  returned  to  strip  the  dead  and  take  charge 
of  the  boats.  Benham,  though  in  great  pain,  and 
nearly  famished,  did  not  discover  himself,  but  lay 
still  till  they  had  left  the  battlefield.  On  the  even 
ing  of  the  second  day,  seeing  a  raccoon  descending  a 
tree  near  him  he  determined  to  fire  at  him,  hoping 
in  some  way  to  reach  him  and  make  a  meal.  The 
report  of  his  gun  was  answered  by  a  human  cry  near 
him.  Supposing  it  proceeded  from  an  Indian,  he 
hastily  reloaded  his  gun,  and  waited  in  silence  his 
approach.  Presently  the  same  voice  was  heard 
again  and  again,  and  seemed  to  be  approaching 
nearer.  No  response  being  made,  the  stranger 
uttered  an  exclamation  of  impatience  and  distress, 
which  convinced  Benham  that  he  was  a  comrade. 
He  replied,  and  soon  they  were  together.  The 
man,  whose  name  was  John  Watson,  was  found  to 
have  both  arms  broken.  The  two  men,  one  disabled 
in  both  legs,  and  the  other  in  both  arms,  subsisted 
for  weeks  till  their  wounds  were  healed ;  the  one 
with  sound  arms  killing  game  and  the  one  with 
sound  legs  kicking  it  to  the  spot  where  his  compan 
ion  could  take  and  cook  it,  and  also  bringing  water 
from  the  river  in  his  hat  held  between  his  teeth. 
Late  in  November  these  two  brave  men  were 
rescued  by  some  passing  boats  and  carried  to  the 
Falls. 

Captain  Benham  lived  to  serve  his  country  in 
many  ways  afterward,  and  before  he  died  was  the 
owner  of  the  land  on  which  the  battle  was  fought, 


GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     611 

and  a  member  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  which  had  been  organized  in  a  part  of  the 
wilderness  he  had  aided  in  conquering  from  the 
savages.1 

The  Indian  depredations,  though  checked  by 
Clark's  expedition  and  his  treaties  with  the  tribes  in 
the  Illinois  country,  were  not  entirely  prevented. 
The  British  at  Detroit  strove  to  recover  their  lost 
ground,  and  continued  to  instigate  attacks  on  the 
border.  These  Indian  raids  during  the  Revolution 
were  often  led  by  Tories  who  were  more  savage  than 
the  Indians  themselves. 

But  Virginia  was  troubled  by  Tories  other  than 
those  who  joined  the  savage  foe.  In  more  than  one 
county  they  made  disturbances  and  incited  resist 
ance  to  the  laws.  The  most  notable  instance  of 
such  Tory  lawlessness  occurred  in  the  counties  of 
Norfolk  and  Princess  Anne,  where,  in  the  spring  of 
1777,  a  party  of  desperadoes,  of  whom  Josiah  Phil 
lips,  Livy  Sykes,  and  John  Ashley  were  principals, 
made  insurrection,  and  commenced  to  rob  and  mur 
der  the  peaceful  citizens.  John  Wilson,  the  County 
Lieutenant  of  Norfolk  County,  at  once  apprised 
the  Executive  of  the  facts,  and  on  June  20,  1777, 
the  day  his  letter  was  received,  Governor  Henry  is 
sued  his  proclamation  offering  a  reward  of  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the  arrest  of  any  one  of 
the  principals,  and  his  conveyance  before  a  magis 
trate  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  law.2 

The  arrests  were  not  effected,  and  the  desperadoes 
continued  their  depredations,  hiding  themselves  when 
pursued  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  Dismal  Swamp.  In 

1  This  account  of  Rogers's  expedition  is  taken  from  Butler's  History  of 
Kentucky,  Chapter  vii.  a  Executive  Journal,  19. 


612  PATRICK  HENRY. 

the  spring  of  1778,  Phillips,  at  the  head  of  fifty 
men,  appeared  in  Princess  Anne,  and  spread  terror 
throughout  the  county  by  his  atrocities.  On  being 
informed  of  this  bold  movement,  Governor  Henry 
issued  his  proclamation,  May  1,  1778,  offering  a  re 
ward  of  five  hundred  dollars  for  Phillips  dead  or 
alive,  and  ordering  one  hundred  militia  from  the 
county  of  Nansemond  to  aid  the  County  Lieutenant 
of  Princess  Anne,  Colonel  Thomas  B,.  Walker,  in 
quelling  the  insurrection.1  Colonel  John  Wilson 
was  also  directed  to  render  assistance.  On  May 
20,  Colonel  Wilson  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Governor 
giving  a  most  distressing  account  of  affairs,  and  of 
the  failure  to  get  a  sufficient  militia  force  embodied 
to  successfully  attack  the  outlaws.  He  urged  the 
removal  of  the  relations  and  friends  of  the  band,  as 
the  only  means  of  getting  rid  of  them  and  of  estab 
lishing  peace  and  security.2 

Governor  Henry  at  once  ordered  a  company  of 
regulars  from  the  State  troops  to  march  to  the  scene 
of  disturbance,  and  enclosed  Colonel  Wilson's  letter 
on  May  27,  to  the  Assembly,  then  in  session,  stat 
ing  the  want  of  power  in  the  Executive  to  grant  his 
request,  and  submitting  the  matter  to  the  Legisla 
ture.  The  House  on  the  next  day  ordered  a  bill  of 
attainder  against  Phillips  and  his  associates,  to  be 
prepared  by  a  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  Jef 
ferson,  Smith,  and  Tyler,  and  the  bill  was  reported 
and  read  the  first  time  the  same  day.  On  the  two 
succeeding  days  it  was  read  the  second  and  third 
time,  and  was  passed.3 

Phillips  was  arrested,  but  it  was  deemed  best  not 

1  Executive  Journal,  246.  s  Wirt's  Henry,  235. 

8  Journal,  24-28. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND  TERM.     613 

to  proceed  against  him  under  the  act.  He  was  there 
upon  indicted  and  tried  for  robbery  in  the  general 
court,  Edmund  Kandolph,  the  Attorney-General, 
prosecuting,  was  convicted,  and  hung  on  December 
4,  1778.1  Afterward,  both  Governor  Henry  and 
the  Legislature  were  censured  for  this  act,  and  by 
a  strange  forgetfulness,  Edmund  Randolph,  on  the 
floor  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  June  16,  1788,  if 
correctly  reported,  declared  that  Phillips  had  been 
executed  under  the  act  of  attainder,  and  proceeded 
to  censure  the  act  in  the  severest  terms.2  Governor 
Henry  in  replying  to  him  seems  to  have  also  forgot- 
•ten  that  Phillips  was  not  executed  under  the  act ; 
and  accepting  Governor  Randolph's  statement  as 
correct,  he  defended  the  Legislature,3  on  the  ground 
that  "  a  pirate,  an  outlaw,  or  a  common  enemy  of 
mankind,  may  be  put  to  death  at  any  time,  and  the 
act  is  justified  by  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  na 
tions."  Mr.  Jefferson  has  also  defended  the  passage 
of  the  act  in  a  letter  to  Girardin,  the  historian, 
March  12,  1815.4  Whatever  blame  may  attach  to 
the  Assembly,  though  none  seems  to  be  deserved, 
Governor  Henry  cannot  be  censured  for  transmit 
ting  to  the  body  the  letter  of  Colonel  Wilson,  upon 
which  they  acted,  and  this  seems  to  have  been  his 
only  action  in  the  matter. 

Among  the  burdens  upon  the  Executive  during 
his  second  term,  was  the  necessary  provision  for  the 
prisoners  which  were  sent  to  Virginia  by  the  order 
of  Congress.  Among  these  were  the  Hessians  taken 
at  Trenton,  and  the  Quakers  who  were  suspected 
of  correspondence  with  the  British  during  the 

1  MS.  Copy  of  Judgment  of  the  Court.       2  Elliott's  Debates,  in.,  66-67. 
3  Idem,  140.  4  Jefferson's  Works,  vi.,  439. 


614  PATRICK   HENRY. 

march  of  General  Howe  upon  Philadelphia.  So 
many  of  these  prisoners  were  quartered  at  Winches 
ter  that  it  became  necessary  to  scatter  them  among 
the  adjoining  counties,1  and  their  subsistence  was 
a  matter  of  grave  concern  in  a  State  already  drained 
to  support  the  army  in  the  field. 

The  inhuman  treatment  by  the  British  of  the 
Virginia  sailors  who  fell  into  their  hands  was  firmly 
met  by  Governor  Henry,  by  an  order,  issued  Sep 
tember  12,  1777,  directing  the  close  confinement 
of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  British  ship,  Solebay, 
who  had  been  taken  prisoners,  and  a  notification  of 
the  order  to  the  British  officer  commanding  on  the 
Virginia  coast.3  This  had  the  desired  effect. 

The  Executive  of  Virginia  was  not  exempt  from 
the  annoyance  to  the  American  authorities  caused 
by  the  crowd  of  foreign  officers,  many  mere  adven 
turers,  who  sought  our  shores.  Most  of  these  came 
with  engagements  indiscreetly  entered  into  with 
them  by  Silas  Deane,  representing  Congress  in  Eu 
rope.  The  correspondence  of  Governor  Henry  shows 
that  he  soon  distinguished  the  meritorious  from  the 
incompetent  when  they  sought  Virginia  service. 
Among  these  foreign  officers  one  name  stands  out 
pre-eminent.  It  is  that  of  the  chivalrous  Marquis 
de  Lafayette.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  became  so 
enamoured  with  the  cause  of  America  that  he  left  his 
young  bride,  and  the  enjoyment  of  his  ample  fortune, 
to  offer  his  sword,  without  reward,  to  the  struggling 
republics.  Received  with  great  cordiality  by  Con 
gress  and  the  Commander-in-Chief,  he  soon  had  an 
opportunity  of  displaying  his  gallantry  at  the  battle 
of  Brandy  wine,  where  he  was  wounded  fighting  as  a 

1  Executive  Journal,  October  23,  1777,  p.  118.  2  Idem,  81. 


GOVERNOR  OF   VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     615 

volunteer.  He  was  rewarded  by  a  command  of  Vir 
ginia  troops.  A  kind  mention  of  him  by  Governor 
Henry  in  a  letter  to  General  Washington,  enclos 
ing  some  mail  from  France,  caused  the  Marquis  to 
write  directly  to  the  Governor  on  January  3,  1778.1 
At  once  there  sprung  up  a  life-long  friendship  be 
tween  the  two,  each  having  the  greatest  admiration 
for  the  other.  The  Governor  named  a  son  after  the 
noble  Frenchman,  and  the  name  continues  among 
his  descendants  to  the  present  day. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  impression  made  on  the 
Governor  by  another  Frenchman,  Captain  Cotteneau, 
afterward  the  distinguished  and  trusted  officer  of 
Commodore  Paul  Jones.  In  a  letter  of  May  28, 
1778,  to  Richard  H.  Lee,  he  says  of  him,  "He  seems 
to  possess  discernment  and  enterprise.  I  like  much 
his  scheme  of  attacking  our  foes  in  Africa.  'Tis 
plausible  and  bids  fair  for  success.  Remember  how 
Goree  was  taken.2  I  think  a  20-gun  ship  of  this 
State  might  aid  the  attempt.  Will  it  not  distract 
their  attention  profitably  ?  I  long  for  something 
of  the  eclat  that  would  attend  such  an  enterprise. 
However,  listen  to  the  captain  yourself  and  judge." 

This  extract  indicates  very  plainly  what  would 
have  been  the  character  of  Governor  Henry  as  a 
soldier,  and  gives  assurance  that  he  would  have  dis 
played  the  same  boldness  and  brilliancy  in  the 
camp  as  in  the  forum. 

The  military  caution  of  the  Governor  was  dis 
played  by  his  order  that  Yorktown  be  fortified  so 
as  to  afford  protection  to  the  ships  of  the  French, 

'Post,  vol.  iii.,  138. 

2  A  small  island  near  Cape  Verd,  on  the  African  coast,  which,  though  a 
place  of  great  strength,  had  been  captured  from  the  French  by  the  Eng 
lish. 


616  PATRICK  HENRY. 

men-of-war  as  well  as  merchantmen,  that  might 
come  to  Virginia.1  This  fortification  no  doubt  led 
to  its  occupation  by  Cornwallis  afterward. 

The  effort  of  the  Governor  to  procure  from  abroad 
munitions  of  war  and  loans  of  money  for  the  State 
was  continued  during  this  term.  On  December  29, 
1777,  he  directed  William  Lee,  the  agent  of  the 
State  at  Nantes,  to  procure  as  soon  as  possible 
20,000  stand  of  good  arms  for  the  use  of  the  militia, 
to  be  paid  for  in  tobacco.2  Finding  difficulty  in 
purchasing  with  this  commodity  from  the  delay  in 
its  delivery,  on  April  9,  1778,  he  directed  him  "  to 
borrow  of  His  most  Christian  Majesty,  or  any  other 
person,  any  sum  not  exceeding  two  million  livres  for 
that  purpose."  3  And  on  May  19,  1778,  he  directed 
him  to  purchase  the  proper  cannon,  mortars,  and 
howitzers  for  the  fortification  of  Yorktown.4 

The  fleet  of  the  enemy  had  almost  destroyed  the 
trade  of  Virginia,  and  to  protect  it,  Governor  Henry 
stationed  three  galleys,  all  the  vessels  he  could  com 
mand  for  the  purpose,  between  the  Capes.  On 
April  10,  he  wrote  an  urgent  letter  to  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Maryland  asking  for  assistance.  The  let 
ter  shows  the  straits  to  which  the  Virginia  trade 
had  been  reduced. 

On  January  14,  1778,  James  Madison  took  his 
seat  as  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council,5  and  all  ac 
counts  agree  as  to  the  high  appreciation  of  his  ser 
vices  by  the  Governor.  But  the  statement  made  by 
his  biographer,  upon  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
that  his  skill  in  foreign  languages  and  readiness  with 
his  pen  caused  him  to  be  so  useful  as  an  interpreter, 

1  Executive  Journal,  252-255.  2  Ibid.,  157.  3  Ibid.,  237. 

4  Ibid. ,255.  5  Ibid.,  225-26. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     617 

and  in  preparing  papers  for  the  Governor,  "  that  lie 
bore  with  many  the  title  of  secretary  as  well  as 
councillor  of  state,"  1  must  be  incorrect.  The  Gov 
ernor  reported  to  the  Assembly,  May  13,  1778,  that 
the  Council  were  not  accurately  acquainted  with  the 
French  tongue,  and  the  Journal  of  March  26,  1778, 
records  that  "  The  Board  having  experienced  very 
great  inconvenience  for  some  time  past,  from  the 
want  of  a  faithful  and  capable  person  to  act  as  sec 
retary  and  interpreter  of  the  French  and  other  for 
eign  languages,  and  it  being  evident,  from  our  grow 
ing  communication  with  foreigners  that  the  want 
will  be  attended  with  greater  difficulties  in  future, 
they  advise  the  Governor  to  appoint  Mr.  Charles 
Bellini  to  the  office  of  interpreter  and  secretary  for 
foreign  communications,  and  to  apply  to  the  next 
Assembly  to  make  the  office  permanent ;  "  which  was 
done.  As  to  the  preparation  by  Mr.  Madison  of  the 
papers  issued  by  Governor  Henry,  a  comparison  of 
the  papers  during  his  service  as  councillor  with 
those  of  the  other  years  of  Mr.  Henry's  service,  will 
demonstrate  that  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  they 
were  by  different  hands. 

Among  the  acts  of  Assembly  during  the  second 
term  of  Governor  Henry  which  should  be  noticed, 
were  those  for  sequestrating  British  property  and 
enabling  Virginia  debtors  to  pay  their  dues  to  Brit 
ish  creditors  into  the  State  treasury,2  for  establishing 
a  high  court  of  chancery  and  a  general  court,3  and 
for  ratifying  the  articles  of  confederation.4 

The  Journal  contains  painful  evidence  of  the  con 
tinued  ill  health  of  Governor  Henry  during  this 

1  Rives's  Madison,  i.,  189-90.        2  Hening,  Statutes  at  Large,  ix.,  377. 
3  Ibid.,  389,  401.  4  House  Journal,  December  15,  1777. 


618  PATRICK   HENRY. 

term.  On  September  15,  1777,  lie  informed  the 
Council  that  the  state  of  his  health  required  his  re 
tiring  for  some  time  into  the  country,  and  he  did 
not  sit  at  the  Council  Board  again  till  September 
29.  Again,  on  June  2,  1778,  the  Governor's  indis 
position  is  noted,  and  between  these  dates  there  were 
other  absences,  some  of  which  doubtless  were  at 
tributable  to  the  same  cause. 

On  October  9,  1777,  he  married  Dorothea  Dan- 
dridge,  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel  West  Dandridge  and 
of  Dorothea  Spotswood,  a  daughter  of  the  royal  Gov 
ernor,  Alexander  Spotswood.  Through  her  father  she 
was  descended  from  Captain  John  West,  President  of 
the  Council  in  1635,  a  brother  of  Lord  Delaware,  and 
a  cousin  of  the  Earl  of  Essex,  the  unfortunate  favorite 
of  the  whimsical  Elizabeth.  She  was  much  younger 
than  her  husband  and  survived  him  for  many  years.1 

At  the  time  of  his  second  marriage  Governor 
Henry  owned,  besides  his  farm  in  Hanover,  two 
small  tracts  in  Botetourt,  and  ten  thousand  acres 
in  Kentucky.  He  was  the  master  of  thirty  slaves, 
and  received  twelve  in  addition  as  his  wife's  mar 
riage  portion.  Soon  afterward  he  sold  his  Scotch- 
town  place  in  Hanover  to  Wilson  Miles  Gary,  whose 
farm  near  the  Bay  had  been  taken  for  a  small-pox 
camp  for  the  Virginia  troops.  In  May,  1778,  he 
bought  of  Thomas  Lomax  a  three-fifths  undivided 
interest  in  a  tract  of  sixteen  thousand  six  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  on  Leatherwood  Creek,  in  Henry, 
which  county  had  been  cut  off  from  Pittsylvania 
and  named  after  him  at  the  session  of  October,  1776.2 

1  She  died  February  14,  1831. 

2  It  is  a  striking  incident  that  the  county  named  after  the  great  Eng 
lish  orator  should  have  been  divided,  and  a  part  named  after  the  great 
American  orator. 


GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND   TERM.     619 

This  purchase  is  referred  to  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in 
his  communication  to  Mr.  Wirt.  After  mentioning 
Mr.  Henry's  practice  in  the  General  Court,  he  adds : 
"  He  now  purchased  from  Mr.  Lomax  the  valuable 
estate  on  the  waters  of  Smith's  Eiver,  to  which  he 
afterward  removed.  The  purchase  was  on  long 
credit,  and  finally  paid  in  depreciated  paper  not 
worth  oak  leaves."1  This  statement,  so  plainly 
derogatory  of  Governor  Henry,  is  without  founda 
tion,  except  as  to  the  facts  of  purchase  and  subse 
quent  residence.  The  title  of  Mr.  Lomax  was  dis 
puted,  and  to  establish  this  and  obtain  partition  of 
the  lands  he  instituted  a  suit  in  the  High  Court  of 
Chancery.  The  answer  of  Governor  Henry  in  this 
suit,  sworn  to  on  June  18,  1782,  states  that  he  had 
fully  paid  for  his  purchase  by  parting  with  other 
lands  of  equal  value,  in  his  opinion,  for  the  purpose 
of  raising  the  money,  having  given  a  shorter  credit 
for  the  lands  sold  by  him  than  what  was  allowed 
him  in  his  purchase,  that  the  payments  might  be 
punctually  made.2  From  the  answer  of  his  widow 
to  a  bill  filed  to  wind  up  his  estate  after  Gov 
ernor  Henry's  death,  it  is  learned  that  this  pur 
chase  was  in  1778,  and  for  the  sum  of  £5,000. 
His  private  papers  corroborate  this,  and  show  the 
payments  to  have  been  as  follows : 

1778,  May  30,  five  half  Johannies  at  46/  each £     18 

"      October  23,  cash 500 

"  "        Bond  due  December  1,  1778 1,482 

Bond  due  December  1, 1779 3,000 

£5,000 

The  bond  for  £1,482  is  simply  endorsed  "  contents 
received,"  without  date  to  the  endorsement,  and 

1  Historical  Magazine  for  August,  1867,  93.  2  MS. 


620 


PATRICK   HENRY. 


was  very  certainly  paid  at  or  about  maturity,  as  the 
last  bond  was  paid  on  the  day  of  its  maturity  by  a 
tobacco  note  for  10,000  pounds  of  tobacco,  which 
were  delivered  a  short  while  afterward.1  This  last 
bond  would  not  have  been  paid  had  the  other  been 
still  due.  The  lands  sold  to  meet  these  payments 
were  the  two  tracts  in  Botetourt  at  £3,500,  and  5,000 
acres  in  Kentucky  at  .£1,500.  This  last  was  sold  to 
his  brother-in-law,  Thomas  Madison.  Colonel  Will 
iam  Christian  made  these  sales  for  him,  as  appears 
by  his  account  rendered  April  7,  1780.2 

When  the  purchase  was  made  paper  money  had 
depreciated  till  it  was  worth  only  one -fifth  of 
specie,  and  that  it  would  further  depreciate  was  ap 
parent,  so  that  the  price  was  fixed  with  reference 
to  this  fact.  When  the  payment  of  £500  was 
made  in  October,  the  depreciation  was  no  greater 
than  in  May.  In  December  1778,  it  was  one-sixth, 
and  in  December  1779,  it  had  increased  to  one- 
fortieth  of  specie.3  The  price  of  the  tobacco  notes 

1  The  settlement  of  this  last  bond  is  shown  by  an  account  rendered  by 
Walter  Coles,  who  made  it.  The  writer  has  the  receipts  for  the  two  cash 
payments  and  the  first  bond.  2  MS. 

s  Scale  of  Depreciation  used  in  the  Auditor's  Office  of  Virginia  during 
the  Revolution. 


1777. 

1778. 

1779. 

1780. 

1781. 

January                   

H 

'4 

8 

42- 

75 

li 

5 

10 

45 

80 

2 

5 

10 

50 

90 

April  

3* 

5 

16 

60 

100 

2£ 

5 

20 

60 

150 

2* 

5 

20 

65 

250 

July  

3 

5 

21 

65 

400 

August         .  .        

8 

5 

22 

70 

500 

3 

5 

24 

72 

600 

October           

3 

5 

28 

73 

700 

3 

6 

36 

74 

800 

December        .               .       . 

4 

6 

40 

75 

1,000 

GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA.— SECOND  TERM.     621 

then  used  was  not  over  one-twentieth  of  the  old 
price. 

It  thus  appears  that  Governor  Henry  bought  the 
Leatherwood  lands  for  paper  money  when  it  was 
greatly  depreciated,  paid  for  them  entirely  within 
nineteen  months,  using  tobacco  notes,  worth  about 
double  paper  money,  for  more  than  half  the  pur 
chase,  and  selling  other  lands  of  equal  value  after 
his  purchase  to  meet  his  payments.  His  conduct  in 
the  matter  is  therefore  without  reproach,  and  Mr. 
Lomax  so  considered  it,  as  he  gave  him  a  deed  and 
asked  the  court  in  his  bill  to  set  off  to  him  his  full 
purchase. 

On  May  29,  1778,  a  message  was  sent  by  the  Sen 
ate  informing  the  House  that  Patrick  Henry  was 
the  only  person  nominated  for  the  office  of  Governor 
for  the  ensuing  year,  and  proposing  that  he  be  ap 
pointed  without  ballot,  whereupon  it  was  "  Resolved 
unanimously,  that  his  Excellency  Patrick  Henry, 
Esq.,  be  appointed  Governor  or  Chief  Magistrate  of 
the  commonwealth  for  one  year,  to  commence  from 
the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  he  was  last 
appointed."  And  it  was  "ordered  that  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  do  carry  the  said  resolution  to  the  Senate, 
and  desire  their  concurrence." 1  This  was  done, 
and  upon  the  announcement  of  the  concurrence  of 
the  Senate,  Mr.  Jefferson  was  appointed  Chairman 
of  the  House  Committee  to  communicate  his  re 
election  to  Governor  Henry.  On  May  30,  he  re 
ported  the  following  reply : 

"  Gentlemen :  The  General  Assembly  in  again 
electing  me  governor  of  this  commonwealth,  have 

1  House  Journal,  26. 


622  PATRICK   HENRY. 

done  me  very  signal  honour.  I  trust  that  their  con 
fidence  thus  continued  in  me,  will  not  be  misplaced. 
"  I  beg  you  will  be  pleased,  gentlemen,  to  present 
me  to  the  General  Assembly,  in  terms  of  grateful 
acknowledgment  for  this  fresh  instance  of  their  fav 
our  toward  me  ;  and  to  assure  them,  that  my  best 
endeavours  shall  be  used  to  promote  the  public 
good,  in  that  station  to  which  they  have  once  more 
been  pleased  to  call  me."  1 

As  it  is  usual  to  impose  upon  the  member  making 
the  nomination  the  offices  performed  by  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  on  this  occasion,  it  may  be  safely  concluded 
that  he  put  Governor  Henry  in  nomination.  But, 
however  this  may  be,  his  action,  as  shown  by  the 
Journal,  proves  that  Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  believe 
Governor  Henry  had  been  guilty  of  complicity  in 
any  previous  scheme  to  establish  a  dictatorship,  so 
strongly  denounced  by  him  soon  afterward  in  his 
"  Notes  on  Virginia." 

1  House  Journal,  30. 


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